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Meets at:
Country Club Christian Church Solarium 3rd Floor 6101 Ward Parkway Kansas City, MO 64113 |
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The Critique Group functions as a point of discussion for "works in progress" as provided members. The group leaders included Mary-Lane Kamberg, Deborah Shouse and Dawn Downey. The are all widely published, professional writers and editors who are willing to share what they know with other writers regardless of experience or achievement.
Learn more about: ► Mary-Lane Kamberg and Debora Shouse |
Summer 2020
6-Week ONLINE Session Begins
June 11, 2020 Thursdays Questions? Contact: Mary-Lane Kamberg 913-764-4950 Email ► MLKwriter@yahoo.com Fee: $50.00 Please make checks payable to: Mary-Lane Kamberg and send to 2128 E. 144th St., Olathe, KS 66062-2355 or use VENMO: @Mary-Lane-Kamberg |
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How it Works
Summer ONLINE Critique Session Beginning Thursday June 11, we invite you to join us for a 6-week virtual session. We are a multi-genre group with a nice mix of newer and more experienced writers. We will "meet" via email. Members send up to 10 pages of double-spaced prose in Times New Roman 12-point font with NO EXTRA line spaces between paragraphs or 3 to 5 poems at a time as a Word attachment to MLKwriter@yahoo.com. Either Mary-Lane Kamberg or Deborah Shouse will to a critique of your work and send it back to you. We post the documents in the order we receive them, unless someone who hasn't been read yet sends something. That person will bump someone who has already had something critiqued by the class. On Thursdays, we post 5 or 6 documents in a group email to the whole group. The subject line will be KCWG OVERVIEW. We send it the way you wrote it, without our comments. We ask that you read all the documents. Then if you have comments or suggestions for the author, please post them all in one email that you REPLY ALL to the Overview email. List each author's name and your comments in the same email. This will cut down on the number of emails you receive. Please make any comments by the next day (Friday) if you can. For your critiques and comments, please tell the truth. But be kind. When your work is being commented on, please do not argue with the person. Simply consider what is said and take it or leave it. You will not be in an editor's office when he/she gets your submission, so you won't have a chance to defend your work. Let it stand alone. If you agree with one or more comments, change it. If not, leave it the way you wrote it. Your work is always your work. You decide. Each week, you will also get an email with the subject line: KCWG MARKET NEWS. Again, REPLY ALL, with your news about writing-related stuff: acceptances, rejections, announcements of workshops, or readings. Or whatever you'd like to share with the group. Send all submissions for the class to MLKwriter@yahoo.com as an attached Word file. Please follow industry standard manuscript preparation. The cost is $50, payable to Mary-Lane Kamberg. You can send the money via Venmo @Mary-Lane-Kamberg or snail mail to 2128 E. 144th St. Olathe, KS 66062-2355. Regular Sessions: "This group was the most educational and fun program since 1/2 through my Master's Degree." Trish Miller, poet. Members turn in 3 to 5 poems, or prose of 8 to 10 double-spaced 12-pt. Times New Roman pages: part of a book, a short story, article or essay to the leaders, via e-mail or regular mail, or hand off at the end of class. We also critique query letters, synopses and book proposals. The leader then does a line edit and comments in writing on the piece. At a subsequent meeting, the leader reads the piece aloud to the group the way the author wrote it.. We have found that it benefits the writer to hear someone else read the piece aloud. The writer often catches things he/she did not notice in written form. For longer pieces, we limit the amount read aloud to about 10 pages. |
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The class then comments on the piece with the goal of helping it become more publishable. Comments may address grammatical or factual errors, comments on structure, characterization, etc., or just how the piece “hits us” as readers. Sometimes, the class even suggests a different plot twist. Other times, someone may suggest a market for the piece. It’s pretty much up for grabs. Comments usually include both positive and negative points. But we don’t attempt to change content. We are trying to help the author say what he or she is trying to say.
Our meetings begin with “Market News,” which is a time (some call it “brag time”) to pass around recently published work, announce awards, acceptances or rejections, signing with an agent, sales of books, articles, stories, or poems. It’s also a time for such general announcements as when someone is doing a poetry reading or appearing on TV or on the radio or passing around an article in the newspaper about one of us. Also during Market News, we pass around guidelines or Web sites for markets we have found. It’s sort of a show and tell time. This time varies, probably about 15 to 20 minutes each meeting. However, on the first day of each semester, it takes most of the meeting, since we’ve been apart so long and lots has usually happened.
In each class, we read the pieces in the order they were turned in (roughly) but we like to read poetry first, because it goes a bit more quickly, and we can get more authors heard. Then we read the longer stuff. We also like to vary the types of pieces to keep the class interested. During the critique, the author simply listens. We don’t “defend ourselves.” However, the author may ask the person commenting to clarify the comment. The author also occasionally may ask the group a question he/she has that no one has commented on. We say, take what you agree with and leave the rest. Whatever anyone says is just that person’s opinion. The piece stays the writer’s to edit or not per the comments. 
We like to try to read pieces by authors whose work hasn’t yet been heard that semester... before we repeat an author. Also, the author must be in class the day the piece is read and critiqued. If he/she isn’t there, we just save it ‘til the next time they are there.
We don't take a break during the session. People just quietly come and go as needed. Visitors are welcome. However we ask visitors to refrain from comment during the critiques. NOTE: IF KANSAS CITY MISSOURI SCHOOLS CLOSE FOR WEATHER, OUR GROUP WILL NOT MEET. WE'LL EXTEND AN ADDITIONAL WEEK AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER.. |
