Sally's take on writing critique groups

WRITING CRITIQUE GROUPS

by Sally Clark

Every critique group has its own flavor. Some are plain vanilla and some are best described as rocky road. It is crucial that you find the one that tastes best to you.

Why would you want to be in a critique group? More importantly – why wouldn’t you? Everybody loves ice cream. Critique groups can provide friendship, sharing of information, help with marketing, sympathy when you are rejected, rejoicing when you succeed, and most importantly – an opportunity to learn your craft and improve your writing, increasing your odds of publication.

If your skin is thin and you need lots of praise without much “crunch,” you can find a soft-serve vanilla group. If your tastes run darker, you could look for a double-chocolate-mocha group heavy with dark chocolate shavings. And if you want a party in a cone, look for a raspberry-sherbet-with-confetti-sprinkles type of group. They're all out there.

If it’s not the right group for you, you might dread attending the meetings. But when you find one that suits your writing style, you can benefit from it greatly. While most any reader can tell you what doesn’t work in your manuscript or ask where did that character come from, people who are writing in your own genre are the best at telling you how to fix it.

No matter how good a writer you already are, you will be a better one if you’re part of a group. In the summertime, it’s hot outside. You need to head down to your local ice cream parlor and cool off. You can find whatever you want there – an icy soda of grammar and sentence structure correction or a big banana split with three flavors of critique and a cherry on the top. You are sure to come back for more!

Or if you prefer, you can sit outside on the bench and watch other writers come out full and happy. The choice is yours. 

p.s. – This article was critiqued by two of the four writers groups I participate in. As with ice cream, I believe if some is good, more is better. J 

Sally Clark, http://sallyclark(dot)info

Author of Where's My Hug?, Ideals Children's Books, 2015