Thursday Afternoon Writing Meetup ! [Santa Cruz]

Join us for our latest in-person writing event!

RSVP if you'd like to stay informed of our new late afternoon writing sessions at The Abbey Coffee Lounge.

As per usual, we'll have 15 minutes to check in, focused writing for 1.5 hours, and a quick wrap up after The Abbey staff tell us they're closing in ten minutes.

Hopefully that'll give you time to get home and join the 6:30pm Tele-Story event on Zoom if you like, where you can hear inspiring readings by four of our members, perhaps including you, and life-giving feedback.

Every third Thursday of the month, we'll have a share and tell where you can read some of your reading aloud and get feedback on it. This is more informal than the Tele-Story zoom sessions, so no need to RSVP, just bring a few pages with you, aiming for 5-10 minutes of reading. If there are many people who'd like to read, we'll split into small groups for listening and feedback.

Guidelines for sharing and giving feedback are below:

1. Before you read, indicate what level of feedback you would like from the group. Suggested options are:

• The Good - people will only tell you what they liked and what was good about your work.
• The Bad (compliment sandwich) - people will give you a compliment on your writing and tell you something they liked about it, but also give you constructive criticism.
• The Ugly - you would like your work ripped apart and only want to focus on the things that could be improved or don’t work.

2. Confidentiality- There are many memoir writers in the group, and even in fiction writing people often draw on true experience, so sharing can be a personal and vulnerable exercise.

• If you are sharing a true experience, consider anonymizing the other characters (especially considering Santa Cruz is a fairly small town!) to protect everyone’s privacy in general.
• If you see someone outside of the context of the writing group, refrain from mentioning potentially personal experiences they might have shared in their writing. General safe topics are ok, like travel experiences, etc., but more personal topics (addiction, grief, illness) shouldn’t be brought up unless the person who shared it brings it up first. Use common sense!

3. Feedback format: Following the Tele-story format, we'll have a "lightening round", where everyone has the option to give one minute of feedback, with extended discussion at the discretion of the author.
4. Feedback tips - focus on what you liked and what could make it even better, rather than what "didn't work". Also, focus on the content or story more than phrasing. Other things to think about:

• Is there too much dialogue, too little?
• Too much description, not enough?
• Unlikeable characters?
• Slow moving plot?
• Inconsistencies in plot or characters? Plot holes? Confusing parts?
• Suggested changes in phrasing are helpful but not the main focus.

Lastly, for those who are interested in sharing their work more in the wider world, we've compiled a list of open mic nights around Santa Cruz. Please let us know if you have one to add or if there needs to be a correction made. Also, come to the group and let us know if you'll be reading so we can come cheer you on!

Open Mic places (for reading your poetry or writing):

1. Satori Art Space (1st & 3rd Tues at 7pm)
2. Second Saturday of every month at Center for Spiritual Living (CSL) on Felt St. (off of 17th) at 6:30pm?
3. Kava Bar every Monday (more music, but reading is allowed)
4. The Abby - ask if poetry
5. Ugly Mug -
6. 11th Hour - Wednesday at 7pm.