WRITERS MEETINGS

Weekly meetings are held every Monday at the Barnes and Noble - 16535 Southwest Freeway - First Colony Mall in Sugar Land, Texas (South of HWY 59-Southway Freeway and HWY 6) from 7 to 9 p.m.

Sugar Land, Texas is a Houston, Texas suburb.

Visitors are welcome to visit on a one-time basis, but are not allowed to read their manuscript until after they have joined the organization.

What happens at a weekly meeting?

Our weekly meetings are devoted to critique sessions where we help each other polish manuscripts for publication.

Our members are writing what is best described as "mass market" and "genre" novels, including mystery, romance, historical, women's interests, sci-fi, young adult, and children's stories. Almost all genre are welcome. However, if your stories are too torrid for us, we'll probably ask you not to read them to us.

We generally ask that you bring 8 to 10 copies of the passage of your manuscript that you want to be critiqued by the group. Since we will have several members wanting critiques during each meeting and time is limited, you are allowed to bring one scene not to exceed seven (7) manuscript pages of double-spaced Courier 12-point font each meeting. Put page numbers on your manuscript selection. If you bring parts of a larger work, count your pages and be sure that the pages you bring comply with the page numbering requirements.

The copies of your manuscript selection are passed around and you, or someone else in the group that you designate, reads your material aloud. The group will then offer suggestions of a constructive nature to help you make your writing more marketable. You will get your handouts back marked up with corrections and suggestions for improvement.

If you've never been in a critique group before, the first time your material is read aloud may be painful. But you will quickly come to value our suggestions. Most writers do not fail because they cannot write. They fail because they do not understand the structure and form of story-telling, and they fail because they do not understand that a writer without an audience is just a hermit.

For additional information on the Fort Bend Writers Guild and membership, contact Fort Bend Writers Guild. Emails should specify "Fort Bend Writers Guild" as the subject of the document, otherwise it may be discarded as spam since some days we receive as many as 100 documents.

GUILD DUES

Cost: $35 per year

All memberships are on a 12 month basis from January 1 to December 31. Membership dues are not prorated; however, new members joining during a workshop or writing competition or old members renewing at that time will receive a reduced membership fee for the remaining portion of that calendar year.

WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES

We have an annual writers workshop and writing competition. Some years we manage to do more. Our Fall 2008 Workshop will be held on Saturday, October 11 at the Holiday Inn - Southwest. Members receive special prices on workshops.

Early registration is now open for the Fall Workshop! See our WORKSHOP page for details.

OFFICERS

President:

Roger Paulding - Email

Vice-Pres:

John Hathorn

Secretary:

Mavis Rabourn

Membership:

Marion Young

Web Coordinator:

L.B. Cobb - Email

WHY BECOME A GUILD MEMBER?

Fort Bend Writers Guild seeks to promote professional development of its members through regular critique sessions, speaker meetings, monthly newsletters, writing competitions, writing workshops, and the sharing of experiences and expertise. We have few rules, low dues, and talented members.

We share a desire to express ourselves through writing, and we understand how difficult it is to write well.

Some members are writing novels, others memoirs, others short stories, others poetry. No matter what your genre may be, you'll find a kindred spirit in FBWG.

Our critique meetings are an excellent place to "try out" material before submitting it for publication.

BENEFITS OF FBWG MEMBERSHIP

Members receive discounts on FBWG sponsored WRITERS WORKSHOPS and other events.

We have a great time when we get together.

Membership includes a monthly newsletter -- FOOTNOTES -- and discounts on FBWG-sponsored events.

New members joining during a FBWG sponsored event may receive special promotional discounts on dues. Please check our home page for information on the next workshop.