The Scary Truth about Critique Groups
Attention Writers:
Did you know, for good or bad, your critique group will exert one of the strongest influences on your career?
Yet, yet very few writers learn how to conduct a critique group for optimum success. Don’t make this mistake.
For years, I studied and surveyed critique groups and critique methods. I learned what to watch out for and the secret ingredients essential for success in your critique group.
Over the years, I participated in numerous critique groups, studied and surveyed other writers’ critique groups. I studied failing groups AND groups having phenomenal success. Additionally, I interviewed scores of authors concerning this aspect of their writing life. Early on in my career, I noted only a few critique groups were fostering significant success; meaning most of their members either got published or successfully advanced their careers in other ways. But I noticed a greater number of critique groups stagnated and eventually fell apart.
Why? What made the difference?
The answers are not what you might suspect.
Armed with the info from my investigation and having a background in psychology, I decided to see what would happen if we applied behavioral modification techniques to the critique process. So . . . I invited a diverse group of writers to participate in The Great Critique Group Experiment. The experiment was so successful that sixteen years later, our careers have advanced, we are still good friends, and those of us who can still meet regularly. We put established a set of proven guidelines and fundamentals that resulted in dynamic critique group success.
I want to share these guidelines and fundamentals with other writers. This week and next, I’m teaching a workshop called Critique Groups: Pods of Destruction or Allies for Success, at Margie Lawson’s Writer’s Academy
It’s not too late to sign up.
You can even hop in next week. The modules will be available and we will be practicing critique beginning September 6th. Some of the students have expressed an interest in forming a critique group afterward.
