Writing Group Benefits

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After little over a week, my writing group is in full swing. I can’t tell you how awesome it is to have this group.

Not only do I get a chance to have people read The Narrator and have them tell me what they think and make suggestions, but I get to read their stuff!

Great writers all, it’s fun to read through my friends’ own NaNoWriMo novels or scenes. It’s also educational. As I see how they write, I see how I can improve my own writing.

If you write, and haven’t joined a group yet, I strongly urge you to do so. You’ll be glad you did!

How to Critique

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My writing group’s writing our first critiques this week. In honor of that, I thought I’d review what goes into a useful critique.

Critiques are tricky things to write. A good one will help the author whose work you’re revising to improve both their piece and their writing in general. A bad one will, at best, be useless, and at worst, make them feel like utter crap.

What to include in a good critique:

1. Positive feedback.
This isn’t just to cushion any blows you might have up your sleeve. You need to make sure to mark what you like so that the author knows what works. Also, you don’t want to see good stuff get edited out by accident.

2. Constructive criticism.
Don’t just say you don’t like something. Suggest a way to fix it, or improve it. This is much more useful to the author than a stuffy opinion. But let them know what doesn’t work.

3. Basic edits.
Authors can read through their work ten times and not catch all the grammar or spelling typos. Help them out, fix what you spot.

Together We Write

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My friends and I are going to start a writing group!

Not sure yet on the details. We might have topics to write on, or we might just work on our WIPs. Might be weekly, might be monthly.

The point is to hold ourselves accountable and write.

Oh, but encouragement and critiques are good too!

Getting my work critiqued in fiction writing class was always so valuable to me, and really helped me improve. If you’ve never been part of a group, join one! It can be with your friends, people in your community, or online. Get your work out there so you can receive feedback. It’s the best way to grow.

Have you been part of a writing group? Any good stories (fiction or non-fiction) to share?