Critique Group? Do I Have To?
I joined my first critique group about ten or so years ago when a woman I knew from my work asked me to join with her because she didn’t want to go alone. The group was held at a small independent book store and had three members. We were invited to sit and introduce ourselves and tell them about what we wrote. We got a glassy stare when my friend said she wrote Christian fantasy and I said I wrote historical romance. Someone said, “Oh. We don’t write genre books.� She said ‘genre books� like a French chef would say Spam.
One of them, you see, wrote poetry, another memoir, and the third wrote what she called literary fiction. I was mortally depressed after ninety minutes of their slow, quiet reading. All their works were dark and woeful, and when it was time to comment, the conversation revolved around specific words. No one said that was funny or sad or made me feel good or anything else I could remotely relate to, but in one case I remember, focused on whether the writer should use the word “conversant� or “convalescent.� I finally asked how the two words could be interchangeable since they had such different meanings.
My friend and I returned a few more times, mostly because my friend is charitable and believes everyone deserves a second chance. One of the evenings a young man showed up who had been out of town but had been with the group before. He was a terrific writer, and he invited us to join him at a writer’s meeting held at the local Barnes and Noble. And that’s where we found a critique group home for over six years and one I credit with making me a better writer. We had writers from every genre, as well as literary fiction and poetry. I learned while listening to other writers read their works and listening to my words read aloud. I’m glad my friend made me stick it out at that first group and I’m sure I learned something even if it was just to understand what I didn’t want my work to sound like. I encourage every writer I know to join a critique group. It’s good for a lonely writer’s soul and a real learning experience too.
One of them, you see, wrote poetry, another memoir, and the third wrote what she called literary fiction. I was mortally depressed after ninety minutes of their slow, quiet reading. All their works were dark and woeful, and when it was time to comment, the conversation revolved around specific words. No one said that was funny or sad or made me feel good or anything else I could remotely relate to, but in one case I remember, focused on whether the writer should use the word “conversant� or “convalescent.� I finally asked how the two words could be interchangeable since they had such different meanings.
My friend and I returned a few more times, mostly because my friend is charitable and believes everyone deserves a second chance. One of the evenings a young man showed up who had been out of town but had been with the group before. He was a terrific writer, and he invited us to join him at a writer’s meeting held at the local Barnes and Noble. And that’s where we found a critique group home for over six years and one I credit with making me a better writer. We had writers from every genre, as well as literary fiction and poetry. I learned while listening to other writers read their works and listening to my words read aloud. I’m glad my friend made me stick it out at that first group and I’m sure I learned something even if it was just to understand what I didn’t want my work to sound like. I encourage every writer I know to join a critique group. It’s good for a lonely writer’s soul and a real learning experience too.
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