Critique Groups

 Are you a writer? Are you in a critique group?

If not, stop reading and go find a critique group!

I can't imagine what my writing would be like if I didn't have my group. They have cried with me, shared my successes, and taught me so much. And we almost never sit in the same room. Yes, that's right, we share online and through email. We chat on skype once a week.

Online critiques are great. You get specific feedback about what's working. You get grammatical and word choice ideas as well as passive voice suggestions.

It's much easier to find positive things to say than this woman is having! But it's a good rule of thumb.

Recently, I was invited to participate in a "live" critique group. I've been to a couple of meetings, and it's so different. You get to hear your work read aloud. You get immediate, gut reaction. It's no better or worse than the online group. Just different--you can focus on different things. You can ask directed questions.

Depending on  your personality, you might feel more comfortable with one over the other. Whichever type of group works for you, I can't recommend having a group high enough. You become a better writer when you critique others. You become a better, more well rounded critiquer when your work is critiqued by multiple people.

Now finding the group is a whole other matter...



Graphics used with permission from Debbie Ridpath Ohi at Inkygirl.com