I just finished one novel (until I revise it again, I suppose) and if I had to choose the one most helpful thing to me as I worked on the novel, I think it would have to be my critique group.
I am in a critique group that is limited to eight people, that requires writing samples before a new member joins, that is focused in regards to genre, and that requires weekly participation.
If you are going to join a critique group or start your own, you might think about these things. Think about how many critiques you can give in a week. Eight crit partners keep me busy. I might do better with four. How many chapters a week are you able to critique?
A writing sample doesn’t guarantee that new members will be writing at the same level as established members, but it does give you some idea of the applicant’s interests and ability. Since you are going to be critiquing chapters of this person’s work every week, it wouldn’t hurt to find a capable writer with an interesting story to tell.
My crit group focuses on MG and YA books. You might write PB’s or first chapter books. I think it’s worth splitting up writers who are aiming for younger readers, from writers aiming for pre-teen and teen readers. I don’t write PB’s and I’m not sure I’m an apt critic. I love to read them, but I’ve not read enough to know much about how to improve them.
Finally, weekly participation has been a lifesaver for me. I’ve subbed so many lousy first-draft chapters to the group. If I hadn’t been required to sub, I’d have given in to writer’s block. But since they made me sub, I did, and from their comments I gained an understanding of what I needed to write to make the reader follow where I wanted to take him.
I know my book benefited hugely from my crit group. I know the ending has some punch because of the crits I got.
After I go through my crits from my group, I send my completed manuscript to several writers friends who will read it straight through and give me big picture critique. This is a huge amount of work, but so necessary. They will catch errors in time and place, in characterization, and in motivation.
I don’t ever want to try to write without fresh eyes looking at my stuff.
What about you? Maybe my requirements for a crit group won’t work for you. Find a group that fits your needs, by all means. It took me four years, probably, of moving around in crit groups before I defined what I really wanted.
But no matter what your requirements are, I can tell you this, if you find a group of able, creative writers, who are producing words each week and expecting you to produce, too, it’s probably not going to hurt you any.
What did I miss? Do any of you have requirements that I didn’t list or hate something I did list?
I am hard-pressed to choose the most important thing about my critique group. I guess it is a close tie between emotional and cognitive support, and the discipline of writing, submitting and critiquing to a timetable.
We are four, which seems to work so well (ie one sub, three crits per month). We have become friends, and that also seems to be important to all of us. We range from the occasional picture book, through mg and ya, to adult. And it always seems to work.
I guess I still struggle with trusting my own instincts in the face of crit remarks. I tend to think my group must be right. But usually putting an ms away for weeks and moving to the next will solve that problem, as i can get better perspective that way.
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