Today I want to talk about Critique Groups. Critique Groups are on my mind because I just got back from a wonderful few days away with the wonderful ladies who make up my Critique Group. We do this every year. I’m also thinking about Critique Groups because I’m reading through manuscripts for the upcoming Indiana SCBWI conference and the first thing I want to ask all of these writers is: Do you have a good critique group?
See, there’s a difference between a critique group and a good critique group. I’ve had both so I know. All writers need critique groups. You need someone to encourage you when you’re down, read and comment on what you’re doing, tear apart the stuff that needs to be fed to the dogs, and fill in the blanks when you no longer can. This is vital stuff. Necessary.
But not all critique groups are created equal. I think it takes a few things to make one a good fit for me. And here are some of them:
1. I have to like the people in the group. Really like them. Want to hang out with them, know how they’re doing, let them see me in my underwear. (That’s a metaphor. Nobody should have to actually see me in my underwear.) But asking someone to read a first draft feels an awful lot like that. I have to be willing to let go of the self-consciousness in that moment.
2. I have to trust them. This is the hardest thing. Do you trust the people in your critique group? Because if you don’t trust them, you’re wasting their time asking for feedback. Trust is important not just for the obvious reasons (you say x is broken. I don’t think it is. But I’m going to have to believe you.) But for less obvious ones too. Personally, I reach a point in revision that I no longer care! My creative jug is empty. I have nothing left to give. I see a scene and know what it needs but can’t come up with the ingredients to make it happen. This is when I rely on my BrainTrust. I throw it out to them. “I need him to say something that will make her mad enough to walk away.” And they tell me 17 things he could say. It’s like a back-up battery when you need one the most.
3. We have to all be on the same page. I know some authors feel differently about this, but for me, I want to be in a group of my peers. I want to know that we all know what a controlling belief is, we all get that scenes need action, and we all understand that revision takes time and hard work.
4. We have to be willing to learn together. My BrainTrust and I spend a lot of time reading and talking about what we’re reading. We analyze why we liked a book, break apart a scene, share our favorite lines. We’re always reading things on the internet—blog posts and articles—and sharing them with each other, discussing, discussing, discussing. We talk sometimes about the business end of writing, yes, but mostly we talk about the craft.
5. We all want to be better writers. Being a better writer takes a lot of hard work: reading, writing, discussing. And humility. It means you have to be ready to scratch something and start over. You have to want the tough feedback. I don’t want to waste my time offering help to someone who doesn’t want it.
There are so many obvious benefits to having a good critique group. As a writer, I feel less lonely, I know I can rely on someone to tell me straight up if I’m nuts, and I’ve got a handful of someones I can go to when I need something writer-related.
But there are less obvious benefits too. When you watch someone go from “I’ve got an idea for a story” to reading their beginning drafts to hashing out with them over dinner the world-building problems they’re facing to helping them prioritize a revision checklist to reading that almost-final-just-clean-up-a-few-things draft to hearing them shout I GOT A BOOK DEAL…it’s such a ride for me too! If writing a book and having it launch out into the world makes me it my baby, then the books my critique group launches makes me a proud auntie. It’s not my book. I didn’t sweat the blood. But I’m sure as heck going to show everyone who walks by the adorable pictures I have on my phone.
Who doesn’t want to feel that way? Who doesn’t want a good critique group?
Go out there and find one if you don’t already have it. Not sure how to do that? I’ll have some thoughts on that next week.