My relationship with writer critique groups is love/hate. When I was about 40K words into my novel and fresh from a writer’s conference full of inspiring workshops, I decided to heed the advice of the professionals and find a critique group. Fate would have it that there was a meetup for fiction writers near my condo that night, so I had no excuse or chance to change my mind. As instructed, I arrived with copies of my beloved first five pages and approached the table of unimposing writers in the diner as nervous as if I was having dinner with George and Amal Clooney at their Lake Como villa. What was I doing here? These are writers and I’m just a … well, not a writer. Then I remembered the encouraging words from the last workshop, “If you write, and you’re here, then you’re a writer.” Not sure if those were the exact words (ironically, I didn’t write them down) but it was what I needed to hear to keep moving forward. That night was a whirlwind with me barely able to focus until it was my turn to read, then afterward, listening to the positive feedback on some of my favorite phrases and pointing out my overlooked grammatical tics (Really, I was really unaware of how I really overuse the word really). Thus began the love part of the relationship where I had weekly feedback and support for my writing.
I made it a routine, taking all the notes from the group and editing my work then moving on to self-edit the next section before bringing it in for feedback. I was loving it! My writing and editing improved dramatically and all was good in the world. So, of course, this is where the hate part of the relationship began to form. Maybe that is too strong of a word, but I had found I had begun to dread going to the meetings and would leave more dejected than supported. Occasionally another writer would point out an exciting improvement I could make, but mostly I’d find myself frustrated with the comments. You see, with all my extensive self-editing, I had eliminated many of the beginning writer mistakes. Without the easy fix suggestions, everyone’s preferences and styles would start to bleed into their critiques. My young adult mystery thriller was trying to morph into a literary adult sci-fi western fantasy with a touch of historical romance. I’d find myself wanting only to hear from the three or four similar genre sources, and then head out to do my edits. Sadly, my egocentric idea of a writer critique group doesn’t exist, it’s a two-way street. Which I’m sure the sci-fi writer figured out long before me, after I asked for the 10th time what was going on when, “the Florps waded through the glabula in search of pips.” So, after sitting through one too many excerpts from a war novel set in a distant galaxy, I decided I needed to take a break from the group, take the skills I’d learned, and finish my damn book!
Critique groups can be wonderful and frustrating. When you’re a newbie they can be a place to grow and flourish as a writer. If you can find one that is in your genre that is even better. As I work on my new novel or my short stories, I plan on finding a group through the SCBWI (Society of children’s book writers and illustrators), MWA (Mystery Writers of America), or SIC (Sisters in Crime) several great organizations that fit my genre of writing. Who knows maybe there is a group that meets around the corner from my new condo? In the meantime, when the love takes over, I like to go back to my old group, get some fresh feedback, and hear which alien army is winning the space battle now.
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