Member manuscripts appear in a list on the homepage of the website. Here’s an example:

Each entry includes the date the manuscript was posted, the submitting member’s name, the date the manuscript will be critiqued, and the type of content in the manuscript. For example, they might have submitted a short story, a few poems, a chapter of a longer work, or memoir. If the submission is part of a larger body of work, then optionally a summary may also be provided.

To prepare for a meeting, a member clicks on the submitting member’s name in the entry. This action downloads the manuscript to the member’s computer. Depending on settings, the file may or may not open automatically. The most likely place to find the manuscript is in the downloads folder. Do the same thing for any summary or synopsis document.

NOTE: Submitted manuscripts are password-protected. For security, the nature of these passwords are not documented in this website. Directions will be provided by the webmaster.

In advance of the meeting, read the member’s submission. Focus on the writing, not whether you think the subject matter is appropriate. That is the author’s decision. Members are free to skip commenting.

Meetings, whether professionally or peer moderated, follow the same structure. The conversation begins with identifying those aspects of writing that the submitting member had done particularly well, and which scenes, paragraphs, or even sentences remained with the reader. This reinforces good writing skills the submitting member should continue. In a natural manner, the conversation will eventually turn to opportunities, things members have identified to make the work better.

Visitors to meetings (non-members) are not invited to comment. They sit in to better understand how the group works before committing.

During this discussion, the submitting member should listen carefully and may take notes but does not engage in the conversation and holds their remarks until the end.

The best feedback you can provide to a submitting member is an electronically marked-up copy of their manuscript. Meeting reminders include instructions how to do this in the Apple Pages and Microsoft Word applications. Feel free to provide your reactions, suggest alternative wording, or other comments. At minimum, the submitting member deserves your observations via email.