Three hours of teaching to lift your writing skills to the next level.
- Meetings are usually held on third Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., March to June and August to November. (June, August, and November 2023 are on second Saturdays.)
- You have the option to submit a 250– to 1,000-word email attachment before the next meeting, which Frank uses for teaching and to facilitate interactive discussion.
- Location in Person: upstairs conference room at 17110 Dallas Parkway, Suite 284, Dallas, TX 75248
- Attendance on Zoom: emailed link sent before the meeting.
- Cost: $35 per session, $110 per four-session season ($140 value).
Preparation for the Meeting
If you want your writing included in the discussion, email up to 1,000 words at least a day before the meeting.
For those who need to use Zoom, a link is sent about thirty minutes before start time. If you can attend in person, that’s always better. With Zoom, we can have connection failures on either end, and the Zoom recording isn’t always reliable. We’ll do our best.
What should I submit? Whatever you think will have the greatest benefit. Don’t worry about making everything perfect, because there is no such thing. Make it your best, and we’ll work hard at finding ways to make it better. Or you can attend without submitting anything.
What format do I use? A file extension DOC, DOCX, or RTF work best. For presentation on the screen, both in the conference room and on Zoom, the text is reformatted to make it most visible for everyone.
How should I prepare? Get a good night’s sleep, and come prepared to ask questions, share thoughts, and laugh a little. It will be fun. If you think of a writing-related question between now and the meeting, no matter how trivial you think it might be, email it to fball@RoaringLabs.org. Chances are, our discussion and answers will help the rest of the group as well.
How is the time allocated? After our opening prayer, but we might take 5–10 minutes to discuss how we’re doing and answer a few questions of general interest. After that, the remainder of the time is split among the submissions. Yes, we do use a timer to keep us on track.
What does Frank do to prepare? Very little. He may glance over the manuscripts and note a few things that might be helpful to the group. But reading the manuscript, making edits, or adding comments as is typical in a writer’s critique group would not be helpful. Why? Because it’s crucial that we all experience the improvement process in real time.
What do I get after the meeting? As long as Zoom does its recording properly, and there’s no guarantee, then you’ll have a link where you can access the file online, just in case you want to fast-forward to a section and listen again. When your submission is put on the screen, Frank will add edits to the text, save the file, and email those copies to everyone after the meeting.
Our three hours will pass quickly. Frank is always early to be sure everything is set up so the meeting can start promptly at 9:30. The doors open at 7:00 a.m. Come as early as you like. Enjoy open discussion over a free cup of coffee. We will take a five-minute break in the middle of our schedule.