Not sure where to go now that I've rejoined the site. Seems the Groups I had once belonged to have faded into the etheral plane and I've returned to a different yet diverse and vibrant landscape. Can somebody recommend a Group for a writer wishing to pen fictional suspense novels? I'd love to emulate Clancey and Cussler, both their writing and their success...but then who wuldn't.
Cheers-
Teck

Hi teck,
Welcome back to WW!
Yes, a lot has changed over the past few years.

I think that most genre specific groups are dying out as there needs to be a lot of activity in a specific genre to maintain them, so it seems to be more successful keeping a more general group going.

Exception to test this rule is the Children's Writers Group (http://writewords.org.uk/groups/66.asp). Otherwise, I think, choosing by activity level is a good thing.

Fast First Draft is primarily a morale boosting "keep you writing" group, not a crit group.

Flash Fiction is very active, but is for... flash fiction... so a lot of fun, but short and not genre specific. Main activity there seems to be the weekly competitions (recommended, but take a lot of time). I can't comment on the poetry groups, but it doesn't sound like you need those either!

Intensive Critique (http://writewords.org.uk/groups/146.asp) tends to be quite active and has, as its name suggests, lots of in-depth critique.

Then there are the short story groups - Commercial Short Story at least aims primarily at selling to magazines, but crits are in-depth and pretty good there too.

And, finally, once you've got a finished MSS, I am actively trying to drive up some activity in the Whole MS read-swapping group (http://writewords.org.uk/groups/202.asp) which is aimed at giving bigger picture, reader-level feedback on larger chunks (up to 10,000 words with the potential for finding beta readers for the full if you are that way inclined).

And, if none of those grab you, you can always propose your own group here: http://writewords.org.uk/groups/application.asp

Either way, hope you find what you're looking for!

Gaius,
Thank you very much for the detailed response. Just had a look at your MS read Group and it seems quite daunting as it contains some very prolificly active WW members within the group. You state it is NOT a critique group but rather a place where one can have their material read in exchange for performing recipricol service to like material. I also noticed that CatherineZ joined your group after reestablishing her membership today.
When I was last active in the site there were quite a number of 'fiction' groups, and several within which novelists were submitting regular bits of material for review chapter by chapter. It was very helpful and almost everybody particpated in providing both material and review/critique feedback.
If you r group is not providing feedback to material being read, what is the purpose of the group?
Surely I must be misunderstanding the intent of the group.
v/r,
Teck

By 'not a crit group', I mean our intent is to provide bigger scale feedback on larger issues rather than the intense, detail focus of groups like IC. We will be providing feedback, of course, but on a more holistic level.

The origin of the group was to find beta-readers for authors with MSS close to submission. Pragmatism means we have modified this slightly - we are taking chunks of up to 10,000 words of a MSS and allowing readers to have the option to read through the full. Kind of a 'try before you buy' approach to full reads. And, as it ties in with those who want to get reads on longer short stories, we are using that synergy too - 10,000 should cover a lot of longer shorts.

A 10k read is a lot to take on and would be unworkable for detail critting - I know I could often write (and receive) at least as many words again in crit as I had read. That would be a crushing workload and would doubtless overpower the author too.

Therefore, our objective is to try to zoom out to reader level observations; plot, character, story but taken as a whole. Not 'does this scene work?' so much as 'does this scene work in the context of the rest of the story?' The corollary to that is that work needs to be at least technically competent - it is not a beginners group.

Finally, we are promoting the idea of reciprocality to the group rather than the individual - the readers who read your piece might not have anything to read, but if you repay their generosity by reading another author's work, then the group remains lively and it will be active when those readers _do_ have something they need read.

G