NEW Writers Group Inc’s reader feed-back workshops are designed to assist a writer to polish/edit a one page piece or excerpt, by hearing several readers’ individual responses to their work. The readers are also people who love to write.
OUR NEXT SESSION is Saturday, 18 OCTOBER 2025 3-5 pm
WestWords, Western Sydney Centre for Writing 41 Hunter Street, Parramatta
Please email New Writers Group for a place by 15 October.
METHOD:
Writers bring 6 copies of their one page piece/excerpt. All copies are returned to the writer.
The readers sit in a circle or around a table and the writer sits close enough to listen in for a ‘fly on the wall’ experience.
The reviewers read through the piece in silence. Then the group leader puts three questions one at a time with readers taking turns to answer. They address each other, not the writer.
A. What is the piece about
Readers express what they think is the core of this piece.
B. What is working in the piece
This could be clarity, humour, expressive language, intriguing POV, good dialogue, suspense…
C. Is there any way the piece could be strengthened.
Some common responses we’ve had: ‘I went back a couple of times because I was unsure which character was speaking.’ ‘The language was effective but I thought some of the word repetitions weakened each other.’
Our classic case was ‘I couldn’t figure out what the second key was doing.’ Nor could other readers. (Writer took the piece home, sacked the second key, and the story’s heart didn’t miss a beat.) Mention typos last, just to be helpful.
At the end, the writer can ask for clarification of a response. But this must not lead into a writer defending their work or the readers handing out more commentary. There is no right/wrong voting happening here. The group does not try to argue against each other’s comments and respectfully leaves decisions to the writer who benefits from a range of reader reactions.
When we are running more than one workshop at a time, writers are likely to be invited to take the role of a reader for another writer before or after their own workshop.
