I've actually posted this on DVXuser but they're not biting as quickly as I would have hoped. If you're in a rush, the important part is at what I'm proposing.

I've been in plenty of writing circles/groups to get my work critiqued, but I've never been quite happy with the result.

Every group (and posting online) seems to have many of the same problems:

1) Not enough screenwriters- Most of the writing groups I've been in have been across all formats because there simply aren't enough screenwriters dedicated to making their scripts better (clearly I have never lived in LA). While I like getting opinions from non-screenwriters (I send the second draft of everything I write to my sister and my girlfriend) to really get surgical feedback experienced screenwriters are required. Lack of experience is a major issue for the group I'm involved in now (as well as many others). I've finally found a group solely for screenwriting and almost all the participants are newbies. I enjoy teaching the craft to newcomers but again, experienced screenwriters are the only people who can find or suggest fixes for certain flaws.

2) Nothing is read aloud- Not to the writer, not to the reader. If you're planning to sell it, it has to read well, but I find it's enormously helpful to just have some people do a cold read. They don't have to be great actors, but it is more beneficial if the readers put some effort into it. Additionally, as a stand up I rely heavily on the audience's energy as a gauge of what jokes work and which need to be tuned or thrown out. It not only makes my act better, it makes me a better comedian.

3) People are afraid to be critical- Or they're critical just to be critical, but mostly the former. I have had my work read dozens, perhaps hundreds of times and have probably only had a handful of negative comments beyond formatting or typos. I'd like to think I'm a little better than average, but I'm certainly no where near that good. I understand the need to be polite- I once read a screenplay that was so bad I felt physically sick, yet when the writer turned to me and asked me what I thought, the first thing I said to him was a generic platitude (the hallmark of the writing group!). I did however go on to give him about 40 things to address on the first 3 pages. Call me desensitized to criticism from my time in stand up, but I'm really looking for people to tear my work apart in constructive and helpful ways, and I imagine many other writers aren't looking for a pat on the ass when they put their work out there.

So here is what I'm proposing-
It's so simple I can't believe I never thought of it before. We put together an online writing circle- but instead of emailing stuff around, which misses some major key components (reading aloud and a real time discussion with a group about the work ?you simply can't recreate this energy in text?) we meet live to read and discuss each screenplay. We may be able to do this using skype (I don't know how many people they allow to talk at once, but it is at least 3) or, hell, find a chat room with voice chat.

The essentials:
-We agree we can be tactful, but need to be constructively critical. If we're serious about improving our work, someone who wants to be critical just for jollies would not really fit in.
-We agree that each project is split into parts and read aloud. Additionally that the readers should do their best with their parts even if they are not at all actors.

The Negotiables:
-Since we'll go through work pretty slowly, I'd suggest a ?2 hour meeting.
-It would make the most sense to try to finish scripts each meeting instead of trying to read a few pages from everyone- so we could knock out a single feature of a few shorts a meeting and just set up a queue of everyone's work waiting to be critiqued.
-A meeting every other week seems like a solid pace, but we could do more if the interest was there.
-I think having an "attendance policy" is silly, but it would make sense to have a rule that you need to attend to have your work move up in the queue.
-I think a group of at least 4 and no more than 8 would work best. We could split off into other groups (by genre?) if there is enough interest.
-For many reasons which are obvious and I'm not going to bother reciting, I think this should be screenplays and screenplay type (plays, audio dramas, etc) projects only.
-I think screenwriters of any experience level should be welcome. We'll probably attract more experienced writers, though.
-No pirates.

Thoughts? Interested? Did I forget something?