Frequency: 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month, with the last session for 2021 on the 1st Sunday in December.
Time: 1 – 4 pm (the session may finish at 4.30 pm depending on attendance)
Convenor: Gayle Malloy. Gayle has had her plays performed in America, the United Arab Emirates and Australia. She has won the Todhunter Literary Award and her short stories are published. Gayle was also a PCWC participant in the Four Centres’ Emerging Writers’ Program.
Venue: Peter Cowan Writers’ Centre, Edith Cowan House,
Bldg 20, ECU Joondalup Campus, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup
Parking: Free parking is available in ECU Carpark 14. Enter from Lakeside Drive (please see the location map here & click on the map to enlarge it)
Cost: $5 includes light refreshments. The first session is free for new attendees.
RSVP: New attendees, please RSVP your attendance to PeterCowanWritersCentre@outlook.com with the Subject: First Draft Group
COVID-19 Updates: Please check this page regularly, the home page, and our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pcwcwa for any updates in the event of future COVID-19 lockdowns in Perth. PCWC has a COVID-19 Plan in place. Please sanitise your hands on the way in (sanitiser provided), and complete the attendance register for WA government contact tracing requirements. In the interests of keeping everyone healthy, please do not attend the session if you are feeling unwell, are awaiting a COVID-19 test result, or have tested positive. Thank you!
Group Overview
The First Draft Writers’ Group started as a fledgling group of prose writers and has now expanded to a group that embraces prose writers of every description, poets, playwrights, script writers, and, on one occasion, a song writer. Writers are asked to bring first drafts of their work for peer feedback. Prose writers can bring a short story or a chapter from a novel, non-fiction work or memoir, while poets can bring several poems. Scriptwriters and playwrights need to bring multiple copies of their work so that it can be acted out. Short 10-20 minute scripts work best for the format, but a section of a screenplay or a longer play can be acted out too. There are no writing exercises in this group, it is solely for writers to read aloud (or act out) their work and receive feedback.
This inclusive group welcomes all creative writers and the group benefits from the diversity of talents and the mediums presented. Group members read the actors parts for our playwrights so that they can benefit from hearing not only the audience response, but also where their dialogue stumbles and is hard for an actor to say. Prose writers vary from those writing for children or young adult audiences to fantasy and genre-specific novelists, and literary works exploring difficult social and historical situations. Our poets contribute their love of metaphor and beauty of language.
All group members are encouraged to give positive feedback and to give suggestions on alternative ways to improve a sentence or paragraph if that is deemed necessary. Everyone benefits from the knowledge and expertise of the individual group members.
We have chosen the term ‘First Draft’ as this implies that the piece presented is a work in progress, and with suggestions and feedback it can be improved. Our participants range from writers who have already had work published to neophytes who are just beginning their writing journey, All are on an equal footing as they are all sharing their first draft of a piece of work.
The group is a safe, welcoming group for all types of writers where their feedback is valued.
Each participant is allocated a set amount of time for reading their work and getting feedback. The time per participant depends on the number of attendees at each session.
First Draft Writers Group is an open group. We welcome all new participants. If you are hesitant to read your work to the group, there will be no pressure put on you. Listen to other writers’ work, meet new people, and enjoy tea, coffee and biscuits with a friendly group of writers.