Code of Conduct

Willesden Green Writers’ Group aims to foster a welcoming environment in which to support and nurture writing talent. Each member shall comply with The Willesden Green Writers’ Group Code of Conduct.

Purpose of Code

The Writers’ Group is a friendly place, with high quality of work and criticism that is marked by frankness and its constructive nature. The basic rule is: be honest, open, respectful, friendly and participate.

Group meetings are harmonious events, but on rare occasions a member attends whose behavior becomes disruptive and undermines the ethos of the group. The rules below are designed to tackle these circumstances.

Membership & Attendance

Membership is assumed through regular attendance and by the payment of fees per session.

Any member who does not attend for more than three months without informing the secretary of a planned absence will be deemed to have left the group. They will not be automatically considered for inclusion in events and publications undertaken by the group

Members should arrive at sessions on time.

Behaviour

At all times, members should treat members and work shared in a meeting with respect.

We have a zero tolerance policy towards bullying, harassment, sexism, racism, any other prejudice and physical violence. Any member who acts in this manner will be asked to leave immediately. The decision of the facilitator of the group is final.

An appeal against the facilitator’s decision can be made but the majority decision of the Chair, Treasurer and Secretary (the committee) is final and no further appeal can be made.

Participation

Members are expected to be active participants who equally seek criticism and feedback on their work and offer constructive criticism to others.

We look at the craft of writing and members should criticise the piece as a stand-alone piece of art. Unwarranted personal opinions that are overly negative without offering constructive practical criticism are not acceptable.

Members who do not use the critical process to develop their work further and/or are deemed to be continually disruptive to the critical environment may be asked to leave. If you are unfamiliar with criticism, here is a very short but good guide. And another.

Content

We encourage to writers to write whatever they feel, let creative juices flow. However we will not give audience to:

-Religious sermons or works that seek to proselytise.
-Racist or otherwise bigoted pieces, where the intention is not to create art but to offend.
-Pieces that have already been published or that the author is not interested in improving.

Enforcing the Code

It is the duty of all members to abide by and uphold the code.

Any concerns that a member is not abiding by the code should be made in writing to the facilitator during the session or to the committee at willesdengreenwriters@gmail.com. If the committee finds validity in those concerns, they will enter a good faith conversation in the hopes the member will improve their conduct.

If the complaint is particularly serious and/or is a behavior that falls under our zero tolerance policy, the member will be asked to leave the group.

All decisions by the committee to exclude a member are final.


Willesden Green Writers Group
2014

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