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I used to love writing groups. They were all about the cake. I could get away with eating 3, maybe 4 pieces and nobody would point out that I was acting like a fat pig cos I needed that cake to buffer the crit process, right? But Clarion cured me of crit groups forever. Took me years to get the voices outta my head even though I loved every minute of the Clarion thing. Now, post writing group era, when I eat three pieces of cake I’m doing it alone infront of the telly. That’s a bad thing, right?

i love my writers group, but then again, we’re not exactly traditional. we hardly ever do the critique circle anymore. in fact, it’s been months and months. instead, we meet and do what we call a write-in. we do it every week and bring our laptops, and sometimes we write, but sometimes we bitch about writing or freak out about agent searching (well, the one person who is actually doing it does :P) or discuss our writerly problems, or talk about stuff that has nothing whatsoever to do with writing.

i have really come to dislike the circle critique, actually. all two of my creative writing profs have lovvvvved them, which is why i think i got so frustrated with the class. it was practically all we ever did, and half the people in the classes didn’t really care about writing anyway. i think getting a good critique doesn’t happen with just anyone. sometimes it’s luck of the draw, and you mind wind up with someone who only reads non-fiction and so doesn’t really have a clue, or yanno, something like that.

i guess my writers group is more like a support group than a crit group. writers anonymous, haha.

Keep your hair away from the fire and keep all arms and legs inside the tram at all times.

i think it’s great that you know what works and what doesn’t work for you, no matter what anyone else says.

Rebecca: You’re spot on—it’s the critique circle that I hate. Hanging out and gossiping about publishing is heaps of fun.

When I first started writing I lucked into this amazing private screenwriting workshop that was online. The woman who ran it was wonderful — she was great at screening people and at keeping the tone right (so important) and a genius critiquer. And, of course, it was all written critiques, being online.

So for years I was so confused about why people felt like writing groups could be damaging. Having been in my fair share of critique circles now, I can completely understand it. (And yet — paradoxically — sometimes I still find it really helpful. I would stab myself if I had to do it all the time though.)

I so get what you mean about the in-person critique thing. I joined an online critique groups which works out amazingly on so many levels (for me).

Gwenda & PJ Hoover: Yup, I shoulda made it clear I was only talking about face to face groups.

*THE FEAR*
i always freak out cause me and my best friend always have similar things in our stories, even though we won’t talk about it until months into writing it.
I always get freaked out that somebody is going to steal one of my plotlines or something, or worse, that i’ll subconsiously steal one of theres! AH!

does anyone else feel this irrational fear?

No liset. Just you have that fear.

Some critique groups have their own entertainment value. I don’t get a real big benefit out of groups, but I have found some valuable readers in the process.

One group that I sat in featured several very religious/conservative people and two erotica writers. The discomfort when critiquing the erotica was amusing, to say the least.

writing in groups always makes me uncomfortable. The way people look at eachothers work and critisize other people’s work…i would rather hear it from someone else…like an editor or something like that.

writing in groups can be fun when we are not at the correcting part, but i still just feel weird sharing my ideas with someone else.

I’ve had to participate in crit groups for the last six months as part of my masters. I hated it. It wasn’t that the group was bad, or that they didn’t have anything useful to say. They did. but i was writing a first draft and could have discovered all those flaws myself if given half a chance. and i think making those discoveries yourself is part of what makes you a better writer.
i do belong to a writing group as well, but it is definitely of the bitch, gossip, drink too much wine, eat too much food variety. aren’t writers supposed to be neurotic, over-indulgers?

critique groups sound like a particular form of hell. however, i don’t have “a dozen people whose opinions I trust.” Any advice on how to find at least a couple of people to give me feedback without experiencing a dreaded critique group?

Anna: i don’t have “a dozen people whose opinions I trust.” Any advice on how to find at least a couple of people to give me feedback without experiencing a dreaded critique group?

Here’s the irony, though, part of why I have that many people whose opinions I trust is that I was in writers’ groups with them.

I definitely think you should give writers’ groups a go if you haven’t already. They really do work for a lot of people. I wrote this post for the people who’ve tried them and it hasn’t worked out. I just wanted to let them know that they’re not alone.

Also, as people have mentioned in the comments, online critique groups get around the scary face-to-face criticism. Again I know lots of people who’ve gotten a lot out of online groups.

But, yes, one of the hardest parts of being a writer is the isolation. It’s hard finding people to read your work. It gets easier when you’re published, but that’s not very helpful when you’re not published.

When I was in writing classes we developed a mantra — there are always two people you listen to and at least one person who should be ignored at all times. Be open to the rest for occasional wisdom when it comes.

That was a while back though — I don’t know if I could deal with it now. (Especially post graduation — I tried to keep up with meeting with an informal writer’s group but found I had to re-explain the rules and tropes of fantasy fiction at EVERY SINGLE MEETING. They all wanted to be Raymond Carver, you see, while I wanted to be Ursula Le Guin. It went poorly.)

I’ve been in many writing groups over the years–all on line groups which I realize isn’t what you are talking about. But I have found a trusted reader or two in each of these groups who have become critique partners later. I’d say an on-line group is a good way to get some feedback and find like-minded writing friends in the early days of writing. Not all groups are created equal though and you should just try one out with the same mindset as finding a pair of shoes that you like. If one doesn’t fit, try another.