Rochester, NY Critique Group

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Lady Chipmunk

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Hey, all.

I was hoping to put together a stable critique group for locals in my area. I was thinking we could meet once a month, maybe more if there was interest.

I have a few people that might be interested, but I need to get an idea of how many people might be available to set it up.

If anyone is interested, please let me know. I will provide freshly baked cookies. ;)
 

Maryn

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Put me down for a big Maybe. I'm in a longstanding local critique group already, which started up after a class at Writers and Books, but not a lot of writing is going on with anybody but me.

Besides, cookies!

If you haven't run a critique group before, I've got a bucket of suggestions and ideas you can have, from choosing a place to how critiques should be handled.

Maryn, who'd love to meet you, group or not
 

Lady Chipmunk

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I've taken a lot of classes at Writers & Books. I wonder if we were in any of the same ones.

I'd be delighted to meet you (assuming I haven't and don't realize it) regardless of the writing group. Also, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have been in groups before, but never had to run one.

Oh, and happy belated birthday. :)
 

Lady Chipmunk

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We have enough writers for a meeting! We will be getting together August 15th if anyone here is interested.
 

Lady Chipmunk

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There are! We have a group meeting once a month in Brockport currently. If interested, send me a message and I will give you the details.
 

LBecktell

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Hey, just saw this! If this is still a thing, would love to be a part of it. :)
 

Maryn

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I'm pretty sure it's still ongoing, although I have yet to make it to a meeting. (Brockport isn't far, but the night is dark and full of terrors. Also, I'm lazy.) If you don't mind my asking, what do you write?

I ask because there are two of us who write my genre here, and we half-joke about starting a genre-specific group.

Maryn, waving in your general direction
 

LBecktell

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I'm pretty sure it's still ongoing, although I have yet to make it to a meeting. (Brockport isn't far, but the night is dark and full of terrors. Also, I'm lazy.) If you don't mind my asking, what do you write?

I ask because there are two of us who write my genre here, and we half-joke about starting a genre-specific group.

Maryn, waving in your general direction


Brockport is about 40 minutes, for me (S. Irondequoit/Merchants Rd area of city checking in here). I would make the drive maybe once a month...tops. :(

I write NA: dystopian, some romance, some sci-fi, some women's fiction with feminist tendencies, and some really freakin' bad poetry.
 

Lady Chipmunk

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There are only two of us currently active, but we'd be more than happy to expand if there is interested.

Both of the current members, myself included, are SF/F writers. Wasn't necessarily meant to be genre specific, but it happens to have worked out that way at the moment.

Brockport is the meeting location because we both happen to live in the area, but I'm not opposed to moving the meeting place somewhere closer to the city should that be convenient to people, or starting a new iteration if that helps.
 
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LBecktell

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I'd love to meet somewhere in between if possible, or we could even alternate locations? I'd love a SF/F group to work with. I'll bring or buy the first round of snacks!
 

Maryn

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Well, we could break into the Medley Centre.

Maryn, ducking
 

Maryn

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Actually, Merchants isn't all that far from University Blvd., which has a number of restaurants you/we could consider. I'm not even scared of going there and trying to park. Mostly not, anyway. Man, I cannot parallel worth a damn, though. I'd love an actual parking lot rather than on the street. I don't know the area well enough to know the coffee places, which might be a natural meeting place. It seems a given that it has to be a place a small group can linger.

My long-time group tends to do low-key restaurants and coffee places, although we started at a place that's neither. It got too expensive for some and we went to a Chinese place where we stayed for years and years, until they had a fire. We got real good at putting coffee houses out of business, one per year. Now we're at a Panera Bread, meeting during the day, which I recognize is not going to be convenient for most people.

Maryn, throwing ideas out there
 

Lady Chipmunk

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I'm out in the University area at least once a week, so my meeting options are flexible. I like coffee shops during the day because the expense can be minimal, they tend to be tolerant of being there for a long time, and there are outlets if people bring computers. On the other hand, unless meeting during the day, they can be noisy.

I mean another option is just meeting at someone's house. I live in Brockport, so mine isn't convenient, but if someone has a place they don't mind opening up we could do potluck food or something.

Alternately, I know the Denny's on Jefferson tolerates lingering well because my gaming group used to meet there. So there's that.

As long as I know where to be, and there is sufficient parking so that I don't have to parallel park, I can go anywhere in the general area.
 
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Maryn

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Denny's on Jefferson is fully do-able for me. Maybe a ten- or fifteen-minute drive. And I like knowing ahead of time they're open to lingering. Some places make you feel you need to clear out.

Daytimes are easiest for me, but I can do nights. I wouldn't want to exclude anybody who lacks my flexible schedule and has to work days. How about you, LBecktell? And the other "original" person Ms. Chipmunk is meeting with?

Um, we'll still be good if I don't write SFF? Because I don't. I used to read a lot of it, but I don't do that any more, either. I presume I can critique it adequately, even if I'm not remotely current on what's out there, but I've been wrong a time or two. Or a bazillion.

I'm glad to hear others don't parallel park. Our daughter worked really hard at it to pass her road test in East Rochester, then assured us she'd never have to do it again. Little did she dream she'd be parallel parking every single day in Boston. (She's good!)

Maryn, beaming with maternal pride
 

Lady Chipmunk

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I suspect Pat, the other 'original person' would rather not drive out there unless we can carpool, and even then it might be iffy. Still, I can ask him. As it is we just meet for dinner twice a month and critique that way, which given he's one of my good friends I can do outside of a formal group.

Days are actually better than evenings for me as my evenings are pretty scheduled right now, but I can shift things around depending on how often and when schedules mesh.

As for not writing SF/F, it's fine with me. I really just want a stable, regular group. I like critiquing, and I think the idea of deadlines on new stuff helps keep me focused.

That said, there are some genres I don't read much. I will still be happy to look at that stuff (literary, romance), and give impressions, but I'm not knowledgeable on the tropes or anything.

On parallel parking, I learned it for my driver's test, passed on the first go (unlike my husband that took four tries specifically because of parallel parking), and have since not used it once. There are advantages to living in Brockport.

Still, impressive that your daughter is so good at it, Maryn. I admit jealousy because it really would be a useful skill to have.
 
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LBecktell

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Um--I'm really excited about all of this!!!

The Denny's on Jefferson is actually perfect for me; I'm at RIT most of the time (went back to school to get my pre-reqs for veterinary school). My schedule is admittedly rough until about December 14th. That's when finals are done!

My first available day is either this Sunday or next Thursday after 2. After the 14th I'm off until the 25th of Jan, though! And my spring semester schedule is much less...horrible. I'll definitely have daytime availability then, too.

I don't care what you guys write--like Lady Chipmunk I am just looking for a solid, regular critique group, and the motivation. The club on campus is made up of people who are all younger than me, and I'm finding that I can't really relate to them...or handle their inattention. :e2hammer:

I'm looking forward to all of us sharing our work!


And parallel parking...ugh. Don't get me started. We venture into the city a lot, but I would rather park three streets away than try to shove my Subaru into a space. I have terrible spatial awareness and my husband is a rabid backseat driver, so I'd rather just not deal with the stress.
 

Lady Chipmunk

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Well, my days are largely open except for Mondays (and sometimes Fridays), but I will be going out of town to see family from Dec 9th until the 14th. So, if we want to do something before then, yay, but if not, also cool.

I would suggest that our first get together be a basic sit down and get to know each other. We can hammer out how to distribute work for critique, make sure we can all stand one another, agree on basic terms, etc. at that point and go from there. But, you know, I'm flexible.
 

LBecktell

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Sounds good to me!

Let me know if this Sunday sounds appealing to youse guys...otherwise, I'm okay with waiting until after the 14.
 

Maryn

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Same here. At some point on most Sundays, I work out, but if I have a time up front where I have other plans, I can work around it.

Silly question, perhaps, but how will we find each other?
 

LBecktell

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Lady Chipmunk--what time works for you?

Like Maryn, I can be flexible with other things if we set the time. :)

Anyway, here's a photo of me for recognition purposes (Apologies for the smarmy filter):

pw701Hs.jpg
 

Lady Chipmunk

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Well, I have absolutely no plans on Sunday, but since one of us needs to pick a time, how do people feel about 1pm?

I look like this only a little heavier now.
 
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