The Value of an In-Person Critique group

I'm a member of three online critique groups. While they work great for me, I always envied people who have live critique groups. I couldn't even imagine how it world work in person. But I never knew how to go about finding people willing to commit to critique meetings, people interested in writing and reviewing and being reviewed.

And then it happened. While we were at the writer's conference in Eureka Springs, we met two lovely ladies who live in the next city over from us. We kept in contact after the conference, and the next thing I know, we have an in-person critique group.

It's only been a month since the conference, so we've just met twice. But let me tell you, it's awesome. There are some great advantages to meeting in person vs. through email.

1) Social time! I get to leave my house and have fun.

2) Speed. In half an hour, we go over the same amount of stuff that takes a week for my online critique group to do.

3) Immediate feedback. As soon as I finish reading, they're ready to give me feedback. Right away, while it's fresh on our minds, I learn what worked and didn't.

4) Learning. While I listen to the other critiquers give their feedback, I learn something. It helps me be a better critiquer and a better writer.

5) Food. We meet at a frozen yogurt place. It's a great way to start the evening.

I know it's hard to get a real live critique group going, but it's worth the effort. Part of the trouble is finding other people serious enough about their writing to commit to meeting with you. But if you find them, take the time. It's necessary.

Countdown: 11: Critique Group

There came a point, after I had made my revisions and my husband had told me how much he disliked my book, that I needed to find a critique group.

I tried to gather up a few people from church, but nobody was interested in reading my book. Just, you know, having me read their book. (Okay, there were only two people.)

So I started looking online.

Believe it or not, you have the same problem online. Everyone wants to be read but nobody wants to read and review. I joined a writing group online that I was quite excited about. I made myself a regular member and read every new post that someone made. However, I quickly lost enthusiasm for two reasons: 1) I wasn't getting reviews in return 2) When I did, they were 1-2 liners of the first 1-2 chapters.

I ended up getting lots of feedback for the first two chapters. But what about the rest of the book???

That's when I found www.writing.com.

It can be a bit confusing at first. So many options. I just started reading every person I found, looking for something great. What I found was a novelist who had written such a great novel that I read the whole thing online in a few hours. (You can see her blog here.) And she led me to the Young Adult Novel Forum.

That writing group was the first to read my novel all the way through.

It was fantastic. I remember the first reviews I got, years ago now, where my fellow members cringed and held their breath to see how I'd take their critique of my novel. Then I remember the reviews I got a year ago, when the members said things like, "I forgot to critique this, I was so into the story." Radical difference. It changed immensely. I could not have done it without a critique group.

I learned so much from them. And I knew quite a bit before, grammatically (I majored in English), but not so much when it came to writing. They were the ones who taught me about head-hopping POVs and adverbs. About flashbacks and prologues and showing emotions instead of telling them.

And they are my friends. I love my critique group. I'm not as active as I was then, but I know they support me. They are a group of fantastic writers.

The best advice I have for an aspiring writer is to get a critique group. Not your friends, but honest writers who will give you their sincere feelings on your book.

Sequel revisions:
today's goal: 183/183
actual: 183/185
tomorrow's goal: Finish!