I have a critique group that meets in my house twice a month. We are all in different stages in our writing journeys. I am just starting to submit a new project -my NaNoWriMo project following edits from my initial draft. Another writer has finished a draft and is ready to start sending out queries. One writer is still figuring out the ending of her story. One has a draft completed and needs to start a rewrite. One is more in the beginning stages of learning the craft of writing. One has published and is working on multiple writing projects.
Each of us brings something different and important to the table. Each of us has a unique skill set. One of us is great with punctuation. One is good with ideas. One is good at finding unresolved loose ends, etc…Individually, were are okay writers. Together we are stronger writers.
We are honest, brutally honest with each other. But, we all know that our honesty has the goal of making each of us better writers. Sometimes it hurts. Often we all break out in peels of laughter. We laugh at each other. We laugh at ourselves. We encourage. We educate. We rip each other to shreds. And we love it. Sometimes there is wine and sometimes tea. Always there is intent and purpose.
I realized recently that I am very grateful for this group of people, who give up their time and talent to help me be a better writer. It is truly special to be surrounded by such amazing people all sharing the same goal. It is a magical thing. And, I love magic.
There are different kinds of critique groups. Some groups have you bring pages and you read aloud to everyone else who then responds by writing for several minutes on what they thought of your story. Some groups have you bring pages, and everyone reads them, and then verbally responds to what they read. Some groups are online – you post your pages and people then respond. I have tried all of these at one time or another.
My group is a bit different. We bring our pages and exchange them with each other, take them home, read them, digest them, and write up our critiques on paper and bring them back the following meeting in a perpetual cycle of the critique process. We read our critiques aloud to each other and discuss both good and bad point that we find. Sometimes we all find the same things wrong with specific pages. Sometimes we each find unique issues with specific pages. This critique format works because we are a closed critique group (i.e. not open to visitors) we make the time to devote to each other’s work. It is a huge time commitment for each of us. But it is of huge importance to each of us, so we come to the group again and again, ready to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly about the pages we submitted. The result is that each of us has grown tremendously as writers. We challenge each other. We support each other. We share information when we learn something new. We come to each other’s parties and have become friends. Surrounding yourself with people you trust and love is a great place to be.
All critique groups are different, with different formats, and with different personalities attending. Sometimes it takes a while to find one that fits. Sometimes you hate everyone in a specific group. Sometimes you like one person but hate everyone else in a different group. You just have to keep trying them on like shoes until you find one that is comfortable and looks good on you. After you wear your critique group for a while, you will look back and see how far you have all come on your journey, and will be glad you shared the time and worn so much of each other.
I have a similar (also closed) crit group that is so awesome and helpful – like yours, we do individual page critiques and put our comments on the paper, and like yours we meet to talk and share. Mine is an online group, rather than in-person, but in some ways that makes honesty even easier – we don’t have to make the difficult comments face to face.
That said, the group is brutally honest without being brutal, and encouraging without offering false praise. I am so thankful for them and completely second your advice to writers to keep looking until they find the right fit. The right group is a real joy to belong to.
And belonging to a crit group makes me be productive. How could I show my face if I didn’t have pages to submit!
Thanks!
TOTALLY. I have gotten a lot more productive since I found my great group. Writing is so much easier when you have someone outside yourself to hold you accountable (in a friendly way, of course!).
Susan is right. Finding the right group is vital. Find a critique group that fits your personal style and writing goals. Where you are on your writing journey is very important, if not vital. For me, genre isn’t important, but the comments are!
I’ve belonged to three different groups. One was partly social and writing oriented. Lasted 10 years. I left another after six months because 14 people in the group was far too many! Often the one you critiqued one time wasn’t there the next time and vice versa. Just started my 5th year with my current group. Fantastic people and great comments. I accomplish more with a group.