Still a little foggy in the head – this is the song that’s keeping me company:
But I won’t let Scott back out to talk today. He’s become infinately more snarky since shiny reared itself. So instead of moping, or going all goofy, or a little depressing (which I really didn’t mean to do yesterday, so I’m sorry if it came off that way), I’m going to think.
Weird, right?
Wicked Writers has been running a series of posts this week about critique groups. They’ve all been insightful reads. At least I think so. Go check them out (after you’re done here). It was all insightful enough that it got me to thinking.
No, that’s not smoke you smell. Promise. Not mine anyway. Despite what the neighbors say.
Wait. What?
Ahem. About seven or eight years ago I got an idea. It was an amalgamation of a bunch of different ideas I’d tried to write before and failed. But this time it stuck. I sat and wrote for days and days and a month or two later I had a novel-length piece of fiction on my laptop. And I loved it and adored it and had no idea what to do with it.
I suspected I should get feedback, but couldn’t find any good way to do that. When I was younger my mother had belonged to a local writer’s group. But I’m not social like that. When I was younger my mother had submitted manuscripts to publishers. I could do that. Except I knew the story wasn’t ready. I wasn’t at the point yet where I knew why, but it wasn’t. And keep in mind that seven years ago, there wasn’t nearly the trove of online information about publishing that there is today.
So poor little story (called Ascension way back then. Called God’s Girl Friday now), sat on my 3 1/4 (yes, floppy disks weren’t that many years ago), and languished, lonely and sad. And then one day about three years ago I found this amazing haven. A place I’d never seen before and loved instantly. Writing.com. People there posted their work and got feedback. Real, honest to goodness feedback. O.o Why hadn’t I discovered this wonder earlier?
So I joined, I became an active member of the community, got some really nice comments on absolutely everything I pulled off my hard drive (stuff I would cringe to share today), and decided I was on the fast track to being a best selling author. Except no one would read my novel. Because it was long. (None of my novels are actually long. The most words I’ve ever had at once in a manuscript is about 70k. But it’s hard to get feedback on anything longer than 2k in an online community)
Then I found a novel critique group. It was exactly what I needed. They would read my stuff, I would read theirs, it would be a nice give and take relationship. And I read some of their stuff and some was amazing and some was so-so, but I was nice about all of it. And then I got the first reviews on my novel. “This is boring.” “This story doesn’t even start until five pages in.” “Lose the backstory.” “Why should I care?”
Don’t misunderstand, it wasn’t all rude. They were all encouraging people. But it wasn’t the shining glory I had expected. I recoiled. I screamed at the wall. I said they were stupid and didn’t know what they were talking about and didn’t know how to read and were just jealous. And I was wrong.
I don’t do the whole group critique thing any more. The biggest problem I found with it? The whole lemmings thing mentioned on Wicked Writers. A story’s flaw becomes infinitely more pronounced when one person notices it and everyone jumps on the bandwagon. It makes it hard to see what’s really a problem and what most people wouldn’t have noticed if someone hadn’t pointed it out.
I belong to a group that chats, but you’re talking three people who I know will be honest with me regardless of what the other members say. But the thing is, I wouldn’t undo the experience. I learned so very much from every critique group I’ve belonged to. Like how to figure out what works for me. How to take critcism. How to be objective about my own work and other people’s. How to shrug off rejection.
Which isn’t completley true. I get a rejection letter and I still mope for a little while. But the mood rarely lasts long and then I move on. Oh, and I’ve met some amazing people and two of them are my critique partners outside a group setting. And they really are awesome.
It’s all about growth and change. Back then I thought I was inches away from brilliance. I’ve learned a lot since then and realize that even now I’ve got miles to go. Funny how a little knowledge can change a lot of perspective.
What’s something that’s helped you grow as a writer, even if you don’t still do it?
I think the thing with critique groups – all of them, not just on WDC – is that you need to find the reviewers you trust. They’re the ones you need to work with. In every group I’m a part of, I know whose reviews hold weight with me. The others, I just thank and move on. Unless something they say really resonates with me…
That was the great thing about LP in its heyday. Everyone was an awesome reviewer, and I knew I could count on each of them to give really honest feedback that actually helped!
@Kate – I totally agree with you. I also think part of the value of a critique group is learning how to know who those people are.
And yeah, I agree with the rest too. it makes me sad when a good critique group dies 🙁
I actually disagree with some of the anti-critique group posts and I’ve definitely had bad experiences with critiques on writing.com. But I still think a critique group can be very useful. The hard part is finding the right group. One problem I had was the group reviewed everything looking for the small issues. While I need help with tense during any draft, I wasn’t looking for comma corrections because every story/chapter/scene I submitted was a first draft (or a barely edited version from the first draft).
And the problem with the rude person wasn’t just what she said about my writing. It bothered me a little but I could have handled that because eventually I would figure out what the real problem was with the scene in question. One of the main reasons I quit the group is that the same rude person would tell me I was wrong when I reviewed her writing. I would preface it even by saying it was my personal opinion based on things I had experienced in life and even then she flat out said I was wrong. But before all that happened, before she was even a member in the group, I always enjoyed the critique meetings in chat.
Before rude person came along, I liked everyone in the group. Even the Mormon guy (the only one in the group from the same state as me at that point) who was going to school at BYU was nice. He would read my stories even though he didn’t agree with homosexuality. He just wouldn’t read any sex scene, no matter the gender involved. And when the leader had her baby, me and him kept the groups going. It was a good experience, much better than my first drawing class, which was the worst I ever had to deal with as far as critiques are concerned.
I would join a critique group today even with the bad experience. It’s hard as a writer for someone to say they didn’t like something but if we want to get published and work with professional editors then as writers, we have to be able to take criticism. But the groups aren’t for everyone. A critique partner can be just as good.