Any group member can do a presentation on any writing related subject. How the evening is structured is up to the host. There may be some writing involved at the end, or a discussion on the points raised.

A plan for the evening can be emailed to everyone so we can come armed and ready.

The evenings are a time for us to help each other, learn from each other and support each other. Let's make the most of them.

There is no set format to an evening, though they are structured by whoever is taking the lead that evening.

An evening can cover any of the following:

Read below for full details of what these involve. We'll be adding to this list as time goes on.

At the moment we alternate our meetings between North Herts College in Stevenage and a pub. The evenings in the pub are given over to critiquing a group member's work, whilst the NHC evenings are for presentations by a group member.

Book review: We will have selected a book a few weeks previously and tried to read it. There is no compunction to finish it if you can't stand it, but you do need to understand why you hate/love it. The discussion can go into characters, dialogue, structure etc or any direction the group chooses.

Writing Review: This is where we critique a piece of work submitted by a member of the group. It could be a chapter of a novel or a short story. We have a list of things to look for that guide us through the critique so we don't end up in useless chatter. Any grammar and spelling mistakes are written on the piece itself rather than discussed in the session.

To download a PDF of the critiquing notes click on the icon below. It may open up in a new window/tab or in the same window/tab depending on your browser settings. From their you should be able to save it to your hard drive. The text version will probably open as another web page. If it does press CTRL-A, then CTRL-C to copy it, then paste it into any wordprocessing package you choose.

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Aspect of Writing: A session on a particular area of writing such as dialogue. Using the work from the opening exercise (if appropriate) or published works, we discuss each piece's good and bad points.

Themed Evening: One person researches a particular style of writing and presents their findings to the group. The evening may include a opening or closing exercise or not. This could also become a question and answer session.

Discussion: General discussion on an area of writing, such as describing taste and smell. The idea is to make ourselves aware of things rather than come to definite conclusions.