Fernhill Writers’ Group is a local writing support group based in Bayswater North, Victoria, Australia.
Fernhill Writers Group is not a formal club or association with a constitution of guiding rules and regulations. We are not formally associated with any larger organisation.
We provide two types of meetings – Tuesday Flashers, and Novel Night.
Tuesday Flashers!
We meet on the first and third Tuesday of each month.
During our meetings each attendee has a chance to read out some of their work – usually around 1,000 to 1,500 words – so a short story .
Other members then provide feedback; what they liked, areas of punctuation or grammar issues, and any points that may be confusing or that could be restructured.
Often the discussion expands into broader aspects of writing craft, so each piece that is shared provides a benefit to all members, not just the author. Depending on how many members attend the meetings will run for 2 to 2.5 hours.
It is usual practice to provide printouts of the piece to be read out – around ten copies. The members will mark up their copies and hand them back so individuals have a more detailed copy of punctuation and grammar issues particular to their piece.
It is also encouraged to provide an electronic copy which is distributed to the wider group. Not all members attend the meetings but they are given the opportunity to provide feedback later, directly to individual members via email. This is optional.
It is well understood that all copyright is retained by the author.
To stimulate the generation of a short story for the following meeting, a theme is usually nominated. It is not compulsory to write something to that theme but it does allow a diverse range of perspectives and approaches to be displayed. More details can be found here, or email the Facilitator.
Novel Night
Similar to Tuesday Flashers, Novel Nights are for members interested in developing skills in writing long form works, say > 10,000 words. It is not restricted to creative fiction, but can include memoirs, novellas, and long form poetry.
One chapter is provided to the convener about ten days prior to the meeting. Collected chapters are distributed to those who have nominated to be part of this group – not to the entire membership distribution list.
The Noveleers have time to read and record feedback on the chapters provided. On Meeting Night each member is invited to read a few paragraphs of their chapter and make any comments about intent, or critical preliminary information.
It is also encouraged to provide a short blurb or elevator pitch which expresses the over-riding themes and genre of the work.
After the meeting Noveleers can send their feedback directly to the author.
We meet once per month, nominally on the second Wednesday of the month (unless it directly follows the first Tuesday of the month! )
The meeting night can also be defined as:
“the second Wednesday after the first Tuesday”, OR
“the second Wednesday after the first of the month”, OR
“the Wednesday of the week in between the first and third Tuesdays.”
They all define the same Wednesday but may not sound clear.
On some occasions the second Wednesday is the day after the first Tuesday which is the night that Tuesday Flashers meet.