About Us
Stratford Writes is a community group for people who write — whatever they write, and however far along they are.
- Where Stratford, Ontario. Meeting locations are listed on each calendar entry.
- When See the calendar for the current schedule.
- Cost Free to attend.
- Who can join Adults at any stage of writing. No application, no portfolio, no audition.
Our story
The group started the way most writing groups do — a few people who kept meaning to finish something, and who suspected they'd finish faster with an audience waiting. We've grown since then, but the shape hasn't changed much: a room, a stack of pages, and readers willing to say what actually landed.
Editor's note: replace this paragraph with the group's real history — when it started, who started it, and what it grew out of.
How a meeting works
Meetings run about two hours and follow a loose but reliable rhythm:
- Check-in (10 minutes). Names, and what everyone has been working on since last time.
- Workshop (about 75 minutes). We discuss member work that was circulated in advance. The writer listens first, then asks questions at the end.
- Prompt or open floor (25 minutes). A short generative exercise, a craft discussion, or news about calls for submissions and local events.
Work is normally sent around a week ahead so everyone can read closely. If you're new, you're welcome to attend without submitting anything.
How we give feedback
Useful critique describes rather than prescribes. A few habits we try to keep:
- Start with what the piece is trying to do, not what you'd have written instead.
- Be specific — point at the line, the paragraph, the moment where you got lost or leaned in.
- Separate a matter of taste from a matter of craft, and say which one you're offering.
- The writer's work belongs to the writer. Every suggestion is theirs to ignore.
What we write
Literary and genre fiction, poetry, memoir and personal essay, plays, and the occasional stubbornly unclassifiable thing. Members have published in journals and anthologies, self-published, entered contests, and written purely for themselves. All of those are fine reasons to be in the room.
Ground rules
- What's shared in the group stays in the group unless the writer says otherwise.
- Come as you are and let others do the same — no put-downs of a person, a genre, or a level of experience.
- Time is shared evenly. Everyone who brought work gets their turn.
Curious? Have a look at what's coming up, or send us a message and we'll answer your questions.