WHAT GOOD IS A "SILENT" CRITIQUE?

Finally, a cool down here in Louisiana!! Yippee, however it will be ending almost as quickly as it got here. It’s been in the low to mid 80’s for the last week, due to tropical storm Lee. We received 4 days straight of down pours but it was worth it. The weather is gorgeous here right now but by Monday, reality comes back to bite us and it will be back in the 90’s. I know all you northern bloggers say you would trade weather and trust me, if that were possible, I’d hit that “transfer” button right now. But since it’s not, I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the next few days and then I’ll get back to griping about the hot.

Ok, back to the business of writing. If you are a serious writer, than you’ve read all the research that tells us to join a critique group or two. I do strongly agree with this theory. I belong to two of them and at one time belonged to three.

Not only do critique groups get your work out there, they give you confirmation that either you can do this or you can’t. If you have a strong enough drive and find that you enjoy it as much as you thought you would, then a critique group will keep you writing and studying your craft. You can learn so very much if you are in a good group. You also can meet all kinds of wonderful writing peeps.

But how do you find one and how do you find a good one? What qualifies as a good group?

To find a critique group all you really have to do is search the internet. There are tons of organizations that offer you help on finding a group. Also, if you take any kind of writing course or go to a writer’s workshop, they can also direct you in the right path.

To find a good critique group, you first need to define what type of group you are looking for. What would benefit you the most?

1.       A group where all the members are buds and just write for the fun of it?

2.       A group filled with people that don’t want to hurt each other’s feelings therefore, they tend to love everything everyone writes?

3.       A group where the writers are serious about their craft and believe in honesty when critiquing but also believe in doing it tactfully? They truly want to help themselves as well as others.

4.       A group that holds nothing back and is brutally honest. They don’t care whose feelings they hurt as long as they get their point across? They think their word is gold.

To be honest, a group that combined all four of those criteria would probably be perfect! However, that would be quite hard to come by.  

I’ve been in the No. 4 group where they were brutally honest. So much so that they didn’t care how they came across or who they crushed. They just said it like they saw it and gave the writer absolutely no hope for their story. I have to admit, I was one of those crushed writers. I did give them a piece of my mind and told them good critiquing did not need to be hurtful; it should always be done tactfully and still give the writer some hope. They didn’t care. I have to admit that after being crushed and very upset for a few days, the critiquers’ words did make me want to try even harder. His words made me determined to prove him wrong. However, I have never sent in another story. I have since been published, however.

One of my groups at present, although I haven’t had time to participate in a couple of months, falls in a little bit of No. 1 and a lot of No. 3. I have been so fortunate to have found them and I have truly learned a ton from all of them.

What if you were in a group where one member fit into the No. 2 category? This member never says a thing about the other member’s manuscripts and very rarely makes a single suggestion. Just says, “Good story, good luck,” basically. Now I ask you, how does that help? My answer to that is “it absolutely does not help. It’s nice to hear, but when that’s all they ever give, then it ultimately means nothing.”  In fact, after awhile, it would make me not want to say a single thing about their manuscript either. That kind of critiquing shows me that member is not serious about helping any of the other members.

So my question to you is, what would you do about that member? Would you speak up to the team lead and let them know how you feel in hopes that that member would be replaced with someone who is serious about critiquing? Why have a member who is not beneficial to the group? Or would you just remain quiet and not let it bother you? And most importantly, how would you describe your own critiquing skills?

Oh and you might be interested in checking out Ruth Schiffmann's blog. She is giving out some great giveaways. Click on the link to take a peek:
http://outonalimbshywritergoessocial.blogspot.com/2011/09/burried-treasure-book-giveaway.html?showComment=1315493342119#c3008355172513674782