If you’re a writer in need of critique, or you just want to read your work, stop on by the Writers Open Forum, or WOF, as they like to call it, on Thursdays at 7 p.m. in Campus Center 210.
I sat in this week, to see Vice President Travis Knight narrate a slide show about e-books. He explained how e-books are different from normal books, how independent publishing on e- books can be an advantage or a disadvantage to a writer, and how the process of getting a book published is changing.
Knight tried to create more of a think-tank sort of environment, prompting questions, while at the same time trying to keep away from the organized structure of raised hands.
“We brainstorm [discussion topics] together,” says President Ed Mcguire. “This one was Travis’s idea. Once we had it, we drew it out.”
A typical WOF meeting will have a prompt, a discussion and readings. The prompt is something for writers to get their creative juices bubbling and start writing. The discussion keeps writers up to date on current topics, and opens their minds up to different writing ideas. Topics vary from narrative structure to publishing. A
t the end of the meeting, members volunteer to read their work at the next meeting. Each member has 10 minutes for reading, and 10 minutes for critique. Some writers choose to read works they have done for a previous class or project.
Tonight’s first reader is Chris Daniels. Daniels read a section from a story he had written for his non-fiction class last semester.
“This is twenty-seven pages long, so I’ll have to do multiple installments,” Daniels says before he reads.
The story is unique in that it is written in second person. At the end, Daniels is met with applause, but asks for no critiques. He just wanted to make his voice heard. Some writers, on the other hand, value the feedback provided by the club.
Next to read is Liz Sauchelli, who begins by saying, “This is due tomorrow, so tear it up.”
So how did Writer’s Open Forum come to be?
“There wasn’t any other writing club,” says McGuire. “I always thought that odd. I wanted one to be around. One day I brought the lack of writerly clubs up with Travis and he replied simply ‘why don’t we just make one?’ And lo, the WOF was born.”
During WOF’s first year, they put on an event with creative writing professors on how to get works published. Another event was in a joint effort with the Creative Writing Club called “Writers Out Loud,” in which writers from both clubs read excerpts from their works.
Member Patrick Manno has been attending since WOF started last year.
“It’s a laid back environment for friends and fellow writers to share their work and get it critiqued,” Manno says. “Hopefully it assists them with both confidence and skill.”
If you are interested in joining Writers Open Forum, they meet in Campus Center room 210 on Thursdays at 7 p.m. If you have any questions, feel free to email President Ed McGuire at emcguire@oswego.edu.
Photo: From left to right: Vice President Travis Knight, President Ed Mcguire, Treasurer Nick Gown, and member Annemarie Soule