Putting Together Our Playwriting Group

Okay, so the masses have spoken. Well, one mass anyway. As of this writing, more than half a dozen people have responded (through the poll) with interest in starting up a playwriting group to help each other develop scripts. Perhaps more will join over time. Most prefer to conduct it via email, so here's what we can do:

1. Send me your email address if you want to participate.
2. Include your name, home town, and any playwriting experience or goals you'd care to share.
3. I will compile and distribute the information via email.
4. If you have a script, scene, or passage you'd like reviewed, send it to me in text or Microsoft Word format. If there are particular questions or sections you'd like to focus on, include that also.
5. I will distribute the script to all participants in either text or Word format (whichever is compatible for all of us).
6. Each participant will read and evaluate the work. In addition to your own tastes, experiences, and writing habits, you may use the criteria I use for evaluating scripts, described in detail in Evaluating a Script and Evaluating a Script - Part II.
7. When finished with the evaluation, which may be a couple hundred words or a couple thousand words, email it to the entire group. In addition to the playwright's benefit, the observations and comments will likely be of interest and value to all.
8. Evaluations should be completed and returned within two weeks.
9. If the playwright has questions, wants additional information, or doesn't understand something, the questions to the particular evaluator should be emailed to the group, too.
10. When all questions and answers have been shared, we can move on to the next script. This should result at least one script per month being reviewed by the group.

Now for some ground rules:

1. Criticism should be constructive and encouraging. Meanness will not be tolerated.
2. If you're unable to meet the two-week turnaround, please inform the group as soon as possible.
3. If someone can't complete the evaluation by the time the Q&A is completed, we'll move on to the next script without that person's input.
4. If someone is unable to complete two scripts in a row, then maybe that person is not ready or able to participate in this. I've reviewed scripts for several years, and two to five hours at most should accomplish the tasks required for this group.
5. If a playwright has a particular focus, please try to address that first.
6. Evaluations should be at least 200 words; anything less will accomplish little.
   The copyright of the article Putting Together Our Playwriting Group in Playwriting is owned by Dave Brandl. Permission to republish Putting Together Our Playwriting Group in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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