Where Would I Be Without My Critique Group? + A Sneak Peek
It's a subject we've touched on before: The importance of getting constructive feedback on your writing, specifically with a critique group.
Of course, beta-reading is also an important part of the process, but that's an entirely different animal. You generally won't know all of your beta readers personally, whereas your critique group ideally should be comprised of writers whose opinions and skills you trust.
I found my critique group through a local writers' organization that I joined in 2014. (You should absolutely find the writing group/organization that best fits you! The networking benefits alone are worth it. But that's a topic we can delve into another day.) I'd been a member of the organization for a few months, when I was approached after our monthly chapter meeting. (She knows who she is!) Had I ever been in a critique group before? Nope. Was I interested? Absolutely. Did I feel comfortable letting a group of people I didn't know very well read my writing and tell me their opinion? Um...next question?
Really, I was making myself more nervous about this than I had to be. It wasn't a large group, and (part of) the point of writing a story is to have someone else read it, right? There's no guarantee you'll groove with the first group you attend, (I was lucky!), it might take you a few tries, a few different groups of writers before you find the one that gives you the most valuable feedback on your work.
I'm not saying a critique group is a requirement, or that you must belong to one your entire writing life. What I want everyone to take away from this, especially if you're just starting out as a writer or have been writing for a long time but haven't really shared your work with anyone, is the potential value that can come from letting other writers read and constructively review your work. Writers will come up with notes or questions that you might not have even thought of. That's not to say that you have to agree with everything your critique partners point out either, the goal is to have that alternate point of view available if you need it.
My critique partners have also encouraged me to submit my stories to contests and publications, (Did I mention my first short story will be published soon? I know I did!), and have always been available to answer questions about different publication avenues.
Plus, they call me out on my chronic punctuation mistakes. Ugh...hyphens.
What has your experience with critique partners been? Are you excited to send your pages in before each meeting, or is the peer critique not part of your process?
It's Sneak Peek Time!
If you've been following along for the last few months, this probably won't be difficult to guess.
Can you guess what book we'll be talking about next Wednesday? Hint: What event have we been counting down to here on The Writing Desk?
I found my critique group through a local writers' organization that I joined in 2014. (You should absolutely find the writing group/organization that best fits you! The networking benefits alone are worth it. But that's a topic we can delve into another day.) I'd been a member of the organization for a few months, when I was approached after our monthly chapter meeting. (She knows who she is!) Had I ever been in a critique group before? Nope. Was I interested? Absolutely. Did I feel comfortable letting a group of people I didn't know very well read my writing and tell me their opinion? Um...next question?
Really, I was making myself more nervous about this than I had to be. It wasn't a large group, and (part of) the point of writing a story is to have someone else read it, right? There's no guarantee you'll groove with the first group you attend, (I was lucky!), it might take you a few tries, a few different groups of writers before you find the one that gives you the most valuable feedback on your work.
I'm not saying a critique group is a requirement, or that you must belong to one your entire writing life. What I want everyone to take away from this, especially if you're just starting out as a writer or have been writing for a long time but haven't really shared your work with anyone, is the potential value that can come from letting other writers read and constructively review your work. Writers will come up with notes or questions that you might not have even thought of. That's not to say that you have to agree with everything your critique partners point out either, the goal is to have that alternate point of view available if you need it.
My critique partners have also encouraged me to submit my stories to contests and publications, (Did I mention my first short story will be published soon? I know I did!), and have always been available to answer questions about different publication avenues.
Plus, they call me out on my chronic punctuation mistakes. Ugh...hyphens.
What has your experience with critique partners been? Are you excited to send your pages in before each meeting, or is the peer critique not part of your process?
It's Sneak Peek Time!
If you've been following along for the last few months, this probably won't be difficult to guess.
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| Boom! |
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