Spectrum Writers

Writing Workshop: Writing A Community, Not a Lone Hero
2026-01-29 19:30 - 21:30 (Europe/London) | The Constitution Pub, 42 Churton St, Pimlico, London, SW1V 2LP, United Kingdom
Framing stories beyond heroes and villains
A writer’s workshop under the expert tutelage of one of our fellow Spectrum organisers and published author, Ana Sun.
How might we approach writing narratives that steer away from the hero’s journey? In this workshop, we will explore techniques to handle a rich cast of characters to reflect community voices, and how to create tension and conflict without villains.
This workshop was oversubscribed at World Fantasy Con last October, and we are lucky to have the opportunity to participate in this session!
Some notes on our workshops:

New members are absolutely welcome – please feel free to come say hello and take part in the workshop, even if you’ve never been to any of our events before. Attendance of a workshop does not count towards full member eligibility, however.
Registrations will close 1 hour before the meeting start time. Please be advised that spaces are limited due to venue capacity, so make sure to register your interest and keep it up to date if you find that you can no longer attend, so someone else can take your spot. Please see our Attendance Policy linked below the form for more info.
Waiting lists are managed through Discord. If the event is full up, please put your name down in the appropriate thread on the #workshop channel on the Discord server (you can find it in the channel itself or as a sub-topic on the channel list on the left), and if a spot opens up an organiser will ping you to let you know so you can sign up. You can also keep checking the website ahead of the event, with a maximum 1 hour buffer, in case any spots open up.

As always, we are asking for a small donation towards the group’s annual running costs at each free session. If you are able to donate, you can pay online on our Ko-fi page, where you can even make your donation monthly. Monthly Ko-fi donors get a special ‘Monthly Benefactor’ role on our Discord, as well as discounts on any Spectrum-branded merch and special events tickets.
So grab your spot while you can, and we look forward to seeing you there!

In-Person Write-Together
2026-02-09 19:30 - 21:30 | Backstage Café at the Old Vic, 131 Waterloo Rd, London, SE1 8UR, United Kingdom
Get together with your fellow members and work on your project!
These events are tailored to create some space in your life to get some writing done in the company of other writers. We will usually sprint for 45 minute intervals and then take a short break before diving in again. So come hang out and get some writing done!
This will be held in person at Backstage Café, the Old Vic. The address is at the bottom of this page.
Please note:

Registrations will close 1 hour before the meeting start time. Please be advised that spaces are limited due to venue capacity, so make sure to register your interest and keep it up to date if you find that you can no longer attend, so someone else can take your spot.

Waiting lists are managed through Discord. If the event is full up, please put your name down in the appropriate thread on the #write-together channel on the Discord server (you can find it in the channel itself or as a sub-topic on the channel list on the left), and if a spot opens up an organiser will ping you to let you know so you can sign up. You can also keep checking the website ahead of the event, with a maximum 1 hour buffer, in case any spots open up.

As always, we are asking for a small donation towards the group’s annual running costs at each free session. If you are able to donate, you can pay online on our Ko-fi page, where you can even make your donation monthly. Monthly Ko-fi donors get a special ‘Monthly Benefactor’ role on our Discord, as well as discounts on any Spectrum-branded merch and special events tickets.
So grab your spot while you can, and we look forward to seeing you there!

February In-Person Critique Evening Change of Venue!
2026-02-25 19:30 - 21:30 | The Constitution Pub, 42 Churton St, Pimlico, London, SW1V 2LP, United Kingdom
Venue change Alert for In-Person Critique on the 25th February!
A critique meeting for short stories and novel excerpts written by our members, live and in person at the Constitution Pub in Pimlico!
An overview of how the critique meetings are structured can be found here – please note that you need to read the stories we’ll be discussing ahead of time and prepare your feedback for the authors.
Some things to keep in mind:

We aim to post the new submissions for this session around a week or so before the event. Please wait until we have confirmed the new submissions are live before downloading anything. To access the documents, you need to sign up on our website and download them from the Members Area under ‘Next Critique Session’; they will be clearly marked for this date/event, so please make sure you download the correct submissions.
New members are absolutely welcome – please feel free to come say hello and see how the group works. We do ask that you participate by giving your comments to the people who submitted their work for this session, even if you have never done so before. Please check out our guide on how to give a good critique if unsure, and don’t be nervous! We’ll let you observe for a while before calling on you.
Registrations close 2 hours before the event. Our events tend to be very well-attended, and we often have waiting lists. If you cannot make it anymore, please update your Registration as soon as possible so someone else can take your spot. Failure to update your Registration or let an organiser know you will not be attending before the 2 hour cut-off can result in penalties, so please be considerate.
Waiting lists are managed through Discord. If the event is full up, please put your name down in the appropriate thread on the #critique-meeting channel on the Discord server (you can find it in the channel itself or as a sub-topic on the channel list on the left), and if a spot opens up an organiser will ping you to let you know so you can sign up. You can also keep checking the website ahead of the event, with a maximum 2 hour buffer, in case any spots open up. Please note you need to have read the pieces in order to participate in the meeting, so do account for that if you are registering at the last minute.

As always, we are asking for a small donation towards the group’s annual running costs at each free session. If you are able to donate, you can pay online on our Ko-fi page, where you can even make your donation monthly. Monthly Ko-fi donors get a special ‘Monthly Benefactor’ role on our Discord, as well as discounts on any Spectrum-branded merch and special events tickets.
Hope to see you there!

March In-Person Critique Evening
2026-03-17 19:30 - 21:30 | The Leather Exchange, 15 Leathermarket Street, London, SE1 3HN, United Kingdom
A critique meeting for short stories and novel excerpts written by our members, live and in person in London Bridge!
An overview of how the critique meetings are structured can be found here – please note that you need to read the stories we’ll be discussing ahead of time and prepare your feedback for the authors.
Some things to keep in mind:

We aim to post the new submissions for this session around a week or so before the event. Please wait until we have confirmed the new submissions are live before downloading anything. To access the documents, you need to sign up on our website and download them from the Members Area under ‘Next Critique Session’; they will be clearly marked for this date/event, so please make sure you download the correct submissions.
New members are absolutely welcome – please feel free to come say hello and see how the group works. We do ask that you participate by giving your comments to the people who submitted their work for this session, even if you have never done so before. Please check out our guide on how to give a good critique if unsure, and don’t be nervous! We’ll let you observe for a while before calling on you.
Registrations close 2 hours before the event. Our events tend to be very well-attended, and we often have waiting lists. If you cannot make it anymore, please update your Registration as soon as possible so someone else can take your spot. Failure to update your Registration or let an organiser know you will not be attending before the 2 hour cut-off can result in penalties, so please be considerate.
Waiting lists are managed through Discord. If the event is full up, please put your name down in the appropriate thread on the #critique-meeting channel on the Discord server (you can find it in the channel itself or as a sub-topic on the channel list on the left), and if a spot opens up an organiser will ping you to let you know so you can sign up. You can also keep checking the website ahead of the event, with a maximum 2 hour buffer, in case any spots open up. Please note you need to have read the pieces in order to participate in the meeting, so do account for that if you are registering at the last minute.

As always, we are asking for a small donation towards the group’s annual running costs at each free session. If you are able to donate, you can pay online on our Ko-fi page, where you can even make your donation monthly. Monthly Ko-fi donors get a special ‘Monthly Benefactor’ role on our Discord, as well as discounts on any Spectrum-branded merch and special events tickets.
Hope to see you there!

April In-Person Critique Evening
2026-04-27 19:30 - 21:30 | The Leather Exchange, 15 Leathermarket Street, London, SE1 3HN, United Kingdom
A critique meeting for short stories and novel excerpts written by our members, live and in person in London Bridge!
An overview of how the critique meetings are structured can be found here – please note that you need to read the stories we’ll be discussing ahead of time and prepare your feedback for the authors.
Some things to keep in mind:

We aim to post the new submissions for this session around a week or so before the event. Please wait until we have confirmed the new submissions are live before downloading anything. To access the documents, you need to sign up on our website and download them from the Members Area under ‘Next Critique Session’; they will be clearly marked for this date/event, so please make sure you download the correct submissions.
New members are absolutely welcome – please feel free to come say hello and see how the group works. We do ask that you participate by giving your comments to the people who submitted their work for this session, even if you have never done so before. Please check out our guide on how to give a good critique if unsure, and don’t be nervous! We’ll let you observe for a while before calling on you.
Registrations close 2 hours before the event. Our events tend to be very well-attended, and we often have waiting lists. If you cannot make it anymore, please update your Registration as soon as possible so someone else can take your spot. Failure to update your Registration or let an organiser know you will not be attending before the 2 hour cut-off can result in penalties, so please be considerate.
Waiting lists are managed through Discord. If the event is full up, please put your name dow
n in the appropriate thread on the #critique-meeting channel on the Discord server (you can find it in the channel itself or as a sub-topic on the channel list on the left), and if a spot opens up an organiser will ping you to let you know so you can sign up. You can also keep checking the website ahead of the event, with a maximum 2 hour buffer, in case any spots open up. Please note you need to have read the pieces in order to participate in the meeting, so do account for that if you are registering at the last minute.

As always, we are asking for a small donation towards the group’s annual running costs at each free session. If you are able to donate, you can pay online on our Ko-fi page, where you can even make your donation monthly. Monthly Ko-fi donors get a special ‘Monthly Benefactor’ role on our Discord, as well as discounts on any Spectrum-branded merch and special events tickets.
Hope to see you there!

May In-Person Critique Evening
2026-05-12 19:30 - 21:30 | The Constitution Pub, 42 Churton St, Pimlico, London, SW1V 2LP, United Kingdom
A critique meeting for short stories and novel excerpts written by our members, live and in person at Pimlico!
An overview of how the critique meetings are structured can be found here – please note that you need to read the stories we’ll be discussing ahead of time and prepare your feedback for the authors.
Some things to keep in mind:

We aim to post the new submissions for this session around a week or so before the event. Please wait until we have confirmed the new submissions are live before downloading anything. To access the documents, you need to sign up on our website and download them from the Members Area under ‘Next Critique Session’; they will be clearly marked for this date/event, so please make sure you download the correct submissions.
New members are absolutely welcome – please feel free to come say hello and see how the group works. We do ask that you participate by giving your comments to the people who submitted their work for this session, even if you have never done so before. Please check out our guide on how to give a good critique if unsure, and don’t be nervous! We’ll let you observe for a while before calling on you.
Registrations close 2 hours before the event. Our events tend to be very well-attended, and we often have waiting lists. If you cannot make it anymore, please update your Registration as soon as possible so someone else can take your spot. Failure to update your Registration or let an organiser know you will not be attending before the 2 hour cut-off can result in penalties, so please be considerate.
Waiting lists are managed through Discord. If the event is full up, please put your name dow
n in the appropriate thread on the #critique-meeting channel on the Discord server (you can find it in the channel itself or as a sub-topic on the channel list on the left), and if a spot opens up an organiser will ping you to let you know so you can sign up. You can also keep checking the website ahead of the event, with a maximum 2 hour buffer, in case any spots open up. Please note you need to have read the pieces in order to participate in the meeting, so do account for that if you are registering at the last minute.

As always, we are asking for a small donation towards the group’s annual running costs at each free session. If you are able to donate, you can pay online on our Ko-fi page, where you can even make your donation monthly. Monthly Ko-fi donors get a special ‘Monthly Benefactor’ role on our Discord, as well as discounts on any Spectrum-branded merch and special events tickets.
Hope to see you there!

June In-Person Critique
2026-06-16 19:30 - 21:30 | The Constitution Pub, 42 Churton St, Pimlico, London, SW1V 2LP, United Kingdom
In Person Critique Description
A critique meeting for short stories and novel excerpts written by our members, live and in person in Pimlico!
An overview of how the critique meetings are structured can be found here – please note that you need to read the stories we’ll be discussing ahead of time and prepare your feedback for the authors.
Some things to keep in mind:

We aim to post the new submissions for this session around a week or so before the event. Please wait until we have confirmed the new submissions are live before downloading anything. To access the documents, you need to sign up on our website and download them from the Members Area under ‘Next Critique Session’; they will be clearly marked for this date/event, so please make sure you download the correct submissions.
New members are absolutely welcome – please feel free to come say hello and see how the group works. We do ask that you participate by giving your comments to the people who submitted their work for this session, even if you have never done so before. Please check out our guide on how to give a good critique if unsure, and don’t be nervous! We’ll let you observe for a while before calling on you.
Registrations close 2 hours before the event. Our events tend to be very well-attended, and we often have waiting lists. If you cannot make it anymore, please update your Registration as soon as possible so someone else can take your spot. Failure to update your Registration or let an organiser know you will not be attending before the 2 hour cut-off can result in penalties, so please be considerate.
Waiting lists are managed through Discord. If the event is full up, please put your name down in the appropriate thread on the #critique-meeting channel on the Discord server (you can find it in the channel itself or as a sub-topic on the channel list on the left), and if a spot opens up an organiser will ping you to let you know so you can sign up. You can also keep checking the website ahead of the event, with a maximum 2 hour buffer, in case any spots open up. Please note you need to have read the pieces in order to participate in the meeting, so do account for that if you are registering at the last minute.

As always, we are asking for a small donation towards the group’s annual running costs at each free session. If you are able to donate, you can pay online on our Ko-fi page, where you can even make your donation monthly. Monthly Ko-fi donors get a special ‘Monthly Benefactor’ role on our Discord, as well as discounts on any Spectrum-branded merch and special events tickets.
Hope to see you there!
