WRITE-BYTES

WRITE-BYTES July 7, 2023
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The Impact of Joining A Writing Critique Group

Sometimes it’s lonely being a writer. It takes hours and hours each week to write just one decent short story or chapter. Hopefully, it turns out to be riveting.

My first novel was published in 2013 and almost exactly one year before that I joined my first four-hour weekly writing critique group, made up of six or seven writers, plus me. The facilitator had written a book about writing, focused on how to open the mind to think more creatively. He usually did a short teach piece at the start of each session. 

Then, we spent time at the table writing individually for about an hour which forced us to let it flow and write something new. During this segment, we’d each meet with the facilitator individually outside the writing room to discuss anything we wanted to about our writing. 

The final ninety minutes of each session was spent reading our work to each other (about ten minutes for each writer followed by about six-seven minutes of feedback). It was amazing to hear the array of work created in such a short time. 

Most of us were beginning writers who wanted to take the leap and get more serious about a writing project.  We were encouraged to give feedback focused on what worked well in each piece that was read, what emotions were sparked in the listeners, and a few things regarding feedback that might be expanded in the piece or could have a deeper dive to engage readers even more. And that’s how I got started on my first novel, Ten Steps From the Hotel Inglaterra (a woman’s solo adventure in Havana, Cuba). 

So, the question that comes to mind for me is this –

Would I have started, developed and completed writing that first novel all the way to self-publishing the book if I hadn’t been involved in a writing critique group? 

My answer –

“No, I honestly don’t think so.”

I stayed in that initial critique group for over eighteen months into the start of writing my second suspense novel (Endangered Witness).

Spending dedicated time each week with a group of writers encouraged me to continue writing and overall, invigorated my writing process. I met people who were doing an array of genres (memoir, fiction, poetry, self-help, how to, adventure, romance, and suspense). The critique group experience truly did open my mind to possibilities. 

The facilitator took a break from leading the group for a while but I continued focusing on crafting novel #2. I didn’t stop writing. I couldn’t stop writing.  Of course, I missed meeting with other writers each week and enjoying the facilitation of a skilled coach. 

So, I searched around for about four or five months and finally connected with another writing coach, someone I had met previously and respected as a writer. I’ve been in this second critique group for well over five years now (before the pandemic with face-to-face meetings, then via Zoom for the duration of the pandemic period and currently, post pandemic, continuing on Zoom). We go for eight weeks of critique sessions and then there might be a one-week break between each series. Sometimes I skip a series because of extensive personal travel. But otherwise, I’m committed.

For me, there are Seven Concrete Benefits to a Writing Critique Group:

- Motivation and support to continue writing  
- Accountability each week to commit to show up, write and offer feedback to others
- Diversity of perspectives from writing colleagues with unique styles and viewpoints
- Space to share struggles and obstacles encountered as writers
- Place to celebrate successes with people of like mind who want to grow their writing skill set and who seek both encouraging as well as candid constructive feedback
- Learning from listening to the work of others (dialogue, description of setting, transitions from one scene to another, building suspense, structure of a scene, etc.)
- Opportunity to experiment maybe with a new genre or something you may not have expected to write.

As Stephen King said:

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”

Participating in a writing critique group offers both of these activities. If you’re fortunate, you’ll find your tribe, people you want to stay connected with as you journey through your process!

Stay tuned for next week. Look for this BLOG every FRIDAY which will l be posted at 9 a.m.

Next week’s WRITE-BYTES post will be titled THE OPENING LINE TO YOUR SHORT STORY