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The Glens Falls Writers Group has met at LARAC since
April 1998. Membership in this group is diverse, open to all
levels and ages and interests. They meet twice a month—once
in the morning, once in the evening—to exchange information, offer
support and give constructive criticism to each others’ writing
efforts. The main membership requirement in the group is that
that members write and want to get better in their craft. “Writing
takes time and commitment to put what's in your mind into words,”
says group leader Kay Hafner. “Then, it takes focus and
determination to rewrite and polish those words. A writing
group can be invaluable in combating the solitude and uncertainties
of being a writer.”
Some writing groups are specialized. Others
don’t do critiques. The Glens Falls Writers Group is a
general critiquing group open to a wide variety of fiction genres,
non-fiction categories, and styles of poetry. “Diversity has
made us stronger,” says Hafner. Members aren’t expected to
all think the same about an issue or come at a piece of writing
from the same background. “We each have strengths to offer,
as writers and readers.” Meetings kick off with an update
period where members take a turn to talk about what they’ve been
doing with their writing the previous month, sharing both progress
and problems. This is also where they get to know newcomers
and their writing interests.
While there is room for information exchange and
social interaction during meetings, the bulk of the time is spent
on critiques. Members hand out pieces for review at the end
of each meeting. Members in attendance take whatever
submissions home to read and write comments on the manuscripts.
At the following month’s meeting, members offer overall critiques
as well as specific areas of praise and criticism. “Each
piece of writing has to stand on its own when it goes into the
world, without any extra narration or explanation from the author
about what he ‘really meant',” says Hafner. “Writing groups help
you decide when a piece is on target and when you need to go back
for one more rewrite.”
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