Confessions of a Rogue Writer: Don't Waste Your Time with Critique Groups

[oliewankanobe]

Crit groups and/or writing groups are like books: some are amazing; some stink.

But critical thinking skills are invaluable... and unlikely to lead thinkers to broad-stroke conclusions.

[D a l y a]

Recipe for critique group:

- One person who never brings any work but swears something's coming
- One person who insists you must follow the "rules" and never use any adverbs, ever
- One person who refuses to read writing advice but quotes Stephen King's On Writing memoir
- One person who says it "flows really well"
- One person who won't go first, then agrees with everyone else
- One person who wants to know which parts happened in real life
- One person who offers suggestions for questions you didn't ask

Am I missing anyone?

[anne_holly]

Recipe for critique group:

- One person who never brings any work but swears something's coming
- One person who insists you must follow the "rules" and never use any adverbs, ever
- One person who refuses to read writing advice but quotes Stephen King's On Writing memoir
- One person who says it "flows really well"
- One person who won't go first, then agrees with everyone else
- One person who wants to know which parts happened in real life
- One person who offers suggestions for questions you didn't ask

Am I missing anyone?

One person who tells you that you need to do everything differently, and then add a vampire, or else no agent will ever sign you.

[Benjamin A.]

Ultimately making changes at anyone's direction means you're only changing how they perceive it. You'll never know how any given idea would have performed in a larger audience if you change it in a smal group setting.

That being said, I think it's more important that you focus on having someone look at it. Critique group, beta reader, close friends/family, whatever it may be. It's hard to be objective with something you've been working with for a long time, or you're close to. I found it healthy to answer the questions by those who read my work during the final stages, even if I didn't make changes. It helped me change gears from writer to reader, hearing thoughts and opinions from someone who didn't spend months hammering it out on the computer, and didn't have it living inside them already. Sometimes I think we still look at our work as writers instead of readers, even when it's time to approach it as a reader.

My only thing about critique groups is what I opened with. Perception in the arts is as different as each one of us. Even from one colleague to another in any field, there are differences of opinion as wide as the grand canyon. Part of art, even the structured and sometimes anal-retentive literary art world, is ultimately taking it in your own direction, regardless of what others believe to be right or wrong. Many great men and women flew in the face of what others expected, and today we remember them instead of those who followed the rules.

[StephenEngland]

Recipe for critique group:

- One person who never brings any work but swears something's coming
- One person who insists you must follow the "rules" and never use any adverbs, ever
- One person who refuses to read writing advice but quotes Stephen King's On Writing memoir
- One person who says it "flows really well"
- One person who won't go first, then agrees with everyone else
- One person who wants to know which parts happened in real life
- One person who offers suggestions for questions you didn't ask

Am I missing anyone?

The only one you missed is the woman dreaming of being the next Hemingway who always talks about what she's writing, but no one ever sees the fruits of it. 

[Krista D. Ball]

My famous critique group story. The bulk of my work always starts with dialogue. I'd get a lot of "agents hate stories that start with dialogue." Well, who cares if agents like it or not? I wasn't looking for one; I was looking for a publisher.

And, oh yeah, I found publishers for the works. I might start all of my novels with dialogue now