Writing is a solitary activity. I spend most of it alone, usually late at night, most often with a mug of tea and a snake for company (see photo).
Even when writing in a crowded place you’re alone. You need to dive into your head and listen to the voices in order to get those words on the page. Sounds like pretentious flim-flam, but it’s true. For a committed introvert like me (all hail the INFJ personality) the necessity for solitude isn’t an ordeal, but it introduces a layer of problems associated with feelings of isolation, inadequacy and loss of confidence.
At some point in a writer’s life people will read your work. Writing itself isn’t frightening but having others read your work is vomit-inducingly terrifying. Your heart and soul is on the page and you’re letting it flap in the breeze, exposed to the elements, sitting atop the parapet waiting to be shot at.
The most powerful support mechanism out there for a writer is the critique group. One I’m in came together very organically and quite by chance; a bit like that rare occasion when you can’t remember why or how you wrote a scene but it’s the one you’re most proud of.
That’s the best writer group there is – not people forced together like a band manufactured with the sole purpose of income generation for the likes of Simon Cowell, but more like a group of high-schoolers from all walks of life who stumble across each other in someone’s Mum’s garage – or, in this case, a small hole in cyberspace acting as a virtual garage.
So, with that in mind, here’s my top 8 benefits of belonging to a critique group.
1 Critiques
What it says on the tin! Good critique pals set their personal tastes aside and focus on the quality of your characterisation, story development, imagery, dialogue (ahem) sex scenes, you name it. It’s scary, so scary, letting other people read what you’ve written. But the more you share, the more immune you become.
2 Two-way street
I always had it drummed into me that at Christmas it’s more blessed to give than to receive –which means Christmas happens on a regular basis with my critique pals. By critiquing the work of my buddies I’ve learnt a lot about the craft of writing, having seen all sorts of great examples on how to do it. By writing down my appraisals of their work it’s helped me recognise some of the issues in my own work, too.
3 Honesty
…is most certainly the BEST policy! Yes, it’s wonderful to be told your book is the best thing they’ve ever read, but the time comes when only the most brutal of appraisals is required. Using risk management jargon (the actuary in me will never die), the critique group is your second line of defence, the first being your own inner editor. They are, in essence, the collective Chief Risk Officers who review each element of your project (dialogue, pacing, imagery etc) and red-flag anything that might spell disaster for your book’s prospects. They tell me where my writing sucks and why.
4 Variety
As human beings, critique partners will differ in their opinions. As do publishers and agents! This helps me to have the confidence to take their feedback on board but also to remember that for my project, I can decide what I change and what I don’t. Plus the added bonus is that the critique group hive mind presents me with a lot of options and I get to choose the best.
5 Consistency
Yes, I know this contradicts the one above, but if my critique pals give me a consistent message, that’s telling me something! Sometimes howlers or honking great canyons in the plot are right before me but I can’t see them. If all my buddies spot it, that tells me how big a deal it is.
6 Problem-sharing
Nobody – and I mean nobody – will have your back as much as your critique pals. While you’re waiting to hear back from your submissions, or when you’ve had a rejection from that one company you’d pinned your hopes on (or, as once happened to me, two rejections within 20 minutes of each other on a Saturday evening), the critique buddies are the only people who really get it. They feel your pain because they’ve been there. I turn to them every time I find myself asking “what’s-the-point-of-it-all-why-don’t-I-just-give-up-writing”.
7 Joy-augmenting
For want of sounding like a parrot, nobody – and I mean nobody – is going to celebrate your successes as much as your critique pals (see above for the reason!)
8 Steam vent
I suppose any secret group is good for this but sometimes we just want to vent when things aren’t working – when our plot’s not stacking up, the words just won’t come, we’re besieged by rejections, we’ve had another 1-star review, we’ve had reviews disappear or when an author has sent us a threatening C&D letter for having a certain word in the title (couldn’t resist the nod to #cockygate) – then the critique buddies band together and share in mutual venting. Boils are always better lanced.
So if you ever feel isolated or if you’re afraid of letting others see your work – you don’t have to be! There’s bound to be other like-minded souls out there wanting to hook up with other authors. There’s loads of bigger groups on Facebook to join where you can ask of anyone fancies being a critique partner.
I can safely say the best choice I ever made writing-wise was joining a critique group. If you’re thinking of forming or joining one then do it – you won’t regret it!
Em xx
