Critique Groups

With the start of the new year, my critique group is ready to meet again. Actually, I belong to two excellent groups. We’re committed to bringing something to critique each time we meet. That keeps us all motivated. We offer praise but also constructive criticism where it is needed. Through thick and thin, we’ve stuck together. We rejoice and celebrate when anyone in the group gets published and offer words of encouragement when one of us gets rejected. Ideas are bounced back and forth during our meetings.

I found a really good blog, Right-Writing, that offers tips on how to find and join a critique group. Written by editor/writer,Terry Whalin, it shows how to organize a critique meeting, how to critique one another’s work, whether fiction or nonfiction, and what are the advantages of joining such a group. I highly recommend being in a critique group. It will enhance your writing skills and make you lasting friendships.

"How can you sit down to write until you have stood up to live?" -- Henry David Thoreau