If you are deeply into your craft, you know writing can be a lonely profession. Collaboration however, can be the key to improving your craft and beating the blues that too much isolation can cause to fester. Not everyone wants to work as closely as Anne and I do, but for many successful writers a critique group is the answer.
Anne mentioned in her last blog about joining a professional group. That is the way to go. When I joined Detroit Women Writers, I was catapulted into a group of working writers. The DWW members all had their sights set on publishing. Through the meetings and critique groups we shared successes, built a network of contacts, garnered current marketing information, and offered realistic support during the painful dry periods. When I moved to Seattle, I joined every professional group I could locate – joined, volunteered, and made professional contacts and friends.
So, find a group and join it!
If you are in a decent sized city, there will be professional groups (sometimes limiting their membership to published authors) and groups of people who are working hard to become published. I’ve found local librarians usually know where they are. And of course, there’s always the internet. National writers associations such as The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Romance Writers, Mystery Writers, etc. have resources and contact lists available to their membership – often with a “Writers looking for a critique group” section. There are even on-line critique groups for those who are not near a meeting location.
Fast forward through time…you’ve found a group and manuscript in hand, you are all ready to go, find that secret to publishing, and soar into fame and fortune.
…Or maybe you’ve taken the initiative, posted your own “Writer looking for writer” ad and are about to host a group. Whether joining or starting one, there are some ground rules and danger signs that Anne and I have experienced.
First of all, a critique group’s sole purpose for existence must be to help everyone get happily published. If you somehow land in a coven that believes there is only so much “good” to go around, and they’re not going to waste it on you, run.
If the critiques are destructive, not constructive, run.
If everyone swallowed a bucket of honey and only gushes about how wonderful, heartfelt and fabulous everyone’s writing is, run (or at least jog).
Criticism does hurt because most writers pour their souls onto the page – but there is a difference in critiques. You’ll know the situation is harmful if you return home crushed, with no idea what to do next. If on the other hand, you face your computer depressed because the work wasn’t ready after all, but know how to start fixing it, you’re probably okay. Best of all, if you return energized because they got what you were trying to say and then gave you good ideas to make the work more marketable, you are in critique group heaven.
Bless the gods that watch out for you.
Guidelines for Getting to Critique Group Heaven:
Good critique groups don’t just happen. They take some planning and resolve (and maybe a little luck as well). If you are starting the group, use the first meeting to agree to the norms that will guide all future meetings. Possibilities include (but are not limited to):
- The starting time is the starting time
- or If you have a gregarious group, personal chitchat is limited to the first 15 or 30 minutes
- How many revisions of the same work is the group willing to hear?
- How long may each writer read?
- How will the order of readers be determined?
- Who will facilitate or lead the group? Time keepers? Who will be the contact person?
- What are the criteria for admitting new members?
Once those questions are settled (and a time to revisit them decided), the actual working structure needs to be put in place. Here are some suggestions that I have culled from successful professional groups:
The Writer:
- comes prepared with the work as far forward as possible – it is not good etiquette to waste colleague’s time with rough drafts.
- may ask for listeners to focus on a particular concern or give general feedback.
- reads the work aloud.
- does not explain either why the work isn’t very good or why it is much better than anything else anyone has ever written.
- gives no background information other than target audience unless it is to summarize what has previously happened in a longer piece (authors don’t get to go with their books to explain).
- may ask for clarification of critiques, but does not debate the merit of the critiques. If clarification is not needed, the only appropriate response is a simple “Thank you.”
- takes notes on all the comments, or if the listeners have written them, collects the comments for further consideration.
- is free to accept or reject any comments when revising.
The Listeners:
If you have some ideas and experiences about groups you'd like to share, we'd love to hear from you.
f & f
Susan
