WRITERS MEETINGS

SATURDAY MEETINGS AT BARNES & NOBLE TOWN & COUNTRY
FROM 9:30 TILL 12 NOON

EMAIL INFO@HOUSTONWRITERSGUILD.ORG FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

CONSULT OUR WEB PAGES ON THE MEETINGS PAGE
FOR THE KIND OF MSS YOU MAY BRING. WE WILL HELP YOU GET PUBLISHED.

Meetings are also held on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. These meetings are limited to ten persons each. Please contact the president via email to see if you are qualified. These meetings require membership.

Classes limited to five persons and one-on-one coaching are available for an additional fee.

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 Houston Writers Guild and membership, contact Houston Writers Guild.  Emails should specify "Houston 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.

Roger Paulding sold two short stories and a three-part serial to the Sunday denominational magazines when he was only a teenager. In college at Oklahoma State University and Hardin-Simmons University, he majored in English, Journalism and Religion. His novel The Pickled Dog Caper (Panther Creek Press, 2005) originally was part of 1,000 page historical novel. Because so many members of his writing groups found it funny as well as moving, he pulled it out and made it a stand alone story. Our published novels will soon follow. His writing career in fiction, long in hibernation, was resumed when he retired, after 20 years in the Fashion industry and ten years writing technical insurance reports for Equifax. He resides in a small city near Houston and has been a resident of Texas since 1951. For the past three years, he has served as president of the Houston Writers Guild with a membership of 200 and a newsletter subscription list of 1000 writers. He is a guiding light for many Houston area writers. This summer (2012) four HWG members are scheduled for publication. See our Member News page for more information on them.

WHY BECOME A GUILD MEMBER?

Houston 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 HWG.

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

BENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP

We have a great time when we get together.

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

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

Ask for a free copy of our Newsletter!

FOR QUESTIONS ABOUT GUILD MEMBERSHIP CONTACT

Roger Paulding, President

Houston Writers Guild

12523 Folkcrest Way

Stafford, TX 77477-3529

Email: Roger Paulding or info@houstonwritersguild.org.