Open Writing

Fiction Addiction is an online writing circle for Womag (women’s magazine fiction) writers. http://womagwriter.blogspot.com/It was founded in January 2011 by Sharon Boothroyd because she (like the rest of us!) was fed up of getting rejections but not knowing where she was going wrong.

Since Fiction Addiction was mentioned on womagwriter’s blog, Sharon has received loads of emails and the writing circle is growing.

The circle has no strict rules to follow. Members send their work out for feedback whenever they wish. All stories and feedback are sent on a ’round robin’ basis so that everyone can read everything and no-one is left out. However, if individual members want to then start corresponding separately then that is OK too.

Most of the stories submitted so far have been under 2,000 words but Sharon thinks that 6,000 would be the absolute limit. Serials and My Weekly/People’s Friend pocket novels are also welcome and can be sent out for feedback chapter by chapter or part by part.

The members of Fiction Addiction are asked to abide by certain guidelines to ensure that criticism is given in a constructive away and that email addresses are kept confidential. There is no need to fear having a story ‘stolen’ by someone else in the group – the ’round robin’ method of communication means that everyone else will know where a particular story originated from.

Membership of the Fiction Addiction writers’ circle is free and Sharon runs it as a hobby not a money-making enterprise.

Some members of the group have already been published professionally and others are just starting out but they are all feeling the benefit of being part of a group rather than floundering alone. Here are some of their comments:

“Thank you all for the warm welcomes I have received already! It really is an active group and I am so excited about being part of it.”

“I love sitting down with a coffee to read a good story and it’s also really interesting to read everyone’s comments.”

“Congrats to you for setting this all up, I think its going to be a real bonus for everyone involved and it feels great to be a part of something.”

I write women’s magazine fiction and find the feedback that I get from Helen, my writing buddy, invaluable. So I would urge anyone who would like someone else to cast an eye over their work (and who is willing to do the same for other people) to have a look at the Fiction Addiction website for more details. http://fictionaddiction.vpsq.net/
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Do visit Sally's Web site http://sallyjenkins.wordpress.com/