Short Story Group Intro and FAQ

At each short story critique group we critique selections from up to four short stories using the Clarion, or Milford Method for our critiques.

As a reminder, this is a speculative fiction group. We don't define what kind of stories you can submit, since many of our writers defy genre classification, but the stories you critique will include science fiction, fantasy, and the paranormal.

More details about BSFW can be found on our Members Page.

HOW DOES A CRITIQUE SESSION WORK?

We use the Clarion, or Milford Method for our critiques. A full guide to how to give and receive critiques is available as a PDF on our Members Page .

• Read the pieces before the meetup.
• Do a written critique, normally by marking up the author's manuscript in advance. You can give the author a print out at the meetup, or type comments into their document and email it to them before or after the meeting. (If typing comments, please use MS Word's Track Changes in the Review menu, or type your comments in a different text color so they're easy to spot).
• Everyone takes turns giving a three minute critique of the piece.
• After the critiques the author gets to ask the group whatever questions they want and there is an open discussion.
• Audio is recorded at each session. The audio links will be posted in the meetup comments after the meeting.

​HOW DO I JOIN?

​You can attend any short story meetup without submitting a story, but you MUST critique the stories for that meetup.

This group polices "no shows." If you repeatedly RSVP Yes but do not attend, you may be removed from the writers group. If you RSVP Yes but cannot attend change your RSVP to No before the meetup. If at the last second you cannot attend a meetup, then please contact the organizer so that the missed meeting will not count against you.

WHICH GROUP DO I JOIN?

You can attend any short story meetup, but as meetups are often full we ask you to only attend one per month so that other writers have a chance to submit their work.

HOW DO I SUBMIT A SHORT STORY FOR CRITIQUE?

Each submission should be up to 7500 words. If you want to submit over 7500 words ask the organizer, who may allow it with the proviso that you may be asked to cut it back if there are a lot of submissions for that meetup.

(Special exception: stories under 1500 words may be read aloud and critiqued at the meetup, if the writer wishes and the organizer thinks there is enough time).

Sign up for a meetup of your choice then email your submission to [email protected] 

SUBJECT: The Title of the group you're submitting to, Name, Word Count,. EXAMPLE: Cam's Novel Group December 8th, Spidercam, 7,000 words

MESSAGE: Name, Title, Word Count, any additional info. EXAMPLE: Spidercam, Glory Chapter 2, 7,000 words. This is a rewrite. 

Attach your document. RTF and DOC are preferred. Please, NO PDF's or DOCx.

​Send to [email protected]

What to Expect: Nine days before the meeting you will receive an email from Meetup with links to download each story for critique from our Dropbox account. Click on the link and download the stories. 

Remember to include your email address on the title page so people can email you critiques.

At the end of the manuscript you may list questions that you would like readers to answer in their written feedback. For example, you might want to know whether the pacing is right, whether a certain character is sympathetic, or whether they found some piece of science fiction technology believable.

WHICH STORIES DO I CRITIQUE?

After the submission deadline, one week before the meetup, the organizer will announce which stories will be read by sending an email to the group. The email will be duplicated on the message board.

Be warned that you will have to do a lot of critiquing! Each meetup critiques up to four stories with a combined total of up to 30,000 words, although the typical meetup is closer to three stories and 20,000 words. You will have about a week to read all of this and prepare your critiques.

HOW WARM AND FUZZY IS THIS GROUP?

BSFW tries hard to create an environment where writers can get along and trust one another, because it's easier to take criticism from people you know, and we often have get-togethers outside of the critique sessions. We have a firm policy of keeping our critiques about the story rather than the writer, and of trying to help the writer create the novel they want to write rather than the novel the critiquer might want to write.

That said, the critique session itself isn't a support group; we focus on honest reader reactions. Please understand that even published stories would never appeal to everyone in a diverse critique group, and I have never seen a piece show up at its first critique ready for publication. Even when people think your story is great they will still spend a lot of time telling you about ways to make it even better.

A full guide to our how to give and receive critiques is available as a PDF on our Members Page.