Hello everyone, this is the first ever guest post on my site, and I'm very excited to bring you this article by Mark Landen. Thanks, Mark! He's working on his first novel, but for the last year or so, he has also been beavering away on a brand new author-centric web site called Criticular. But I'm getting ahead of myself. 🙂 Over to you, Mark.
How do you know if what you have written is any good? How would you really know? I’m sure you’ve written something and enjoyed it thoroughly, only to come back a few days later and notice all its flaws. This is a writer’s conundrum, yet at the same time, it’s our DNA.
Critique groups
Since humans first began to tell stories, centuries ago, they had feedback. And that’s it, isn’t it? Stories need to be refined, molded, and polished into shape. Some stories get beaten down, only to be resurrected as a diamond by the storyteller. We need feedback, we need help, and thus we need the critique group.
But not critiques by anyone. My mother loves everything I write, and my friends do, too. Even the bad stuff. Are you friends with people in your critique group? Perhaps so, and perhaps they are being considerate of your feelings (and your friendship) when giving critiques. Yet, getting objective feedback is essential to your work. You need friends to get feedback, yet their relationship with you introduces subjectivity into the equation. Another writer’s conundrum.
What you can learn
Critique groups are a fantastic way to meet people, have a cheering section, and most of all improve your writing—but it’s not all about you. You get to help your fellow author at the same time. Perhaps one of the most beneficial aspects to critique groups is hearing what other people say about someone else’s work, not your own.
Think about it for a second. You get to learn about the pros and cons from many different authors’ perspectives, different genders, different ages, and different worldviews—then compare that to what you might have missed with your own critique of that author’s work.
That’s powerful stuff, being able to write something that will appeal to many kinds of people. It’s a key ingredient to writing something that will sell.
Shortcomings
But we still have this issue of subjectivity. We like what we wrote because it’s our child. Your critique group might have subjectivity as well—perhaps in care of your feelings, your friendship, to provide encouragement, and so on. Rules providing honest feedback are the backbone of every group, yet subjectivity still creeps in.
Then there is the issue of getting your entire manuscript critiqued. Chances are you can’t get your entire book critiqued from a single critique group because let’s face it, that’s a lot of words. Reading a chapter a month, for example, could take years. Alternatively, you could find a one-on-one critique partner, which is fantastic, but they are hard to come by.
Is there a solution? What would it even look like? If I made a list of wants, this is what they would be:
New Beginnings
I used this list as the beginnings of a website I created called Criticular.com where the core activity is critiquing. It’s not meant to replace your critique group, but to enhance it, providing you with more critiquing options. Three queues—anonymous, friend, and a group’s queue—each have their own levels of privacy and anonymity. Book projects allow you to showcase your book-in-progress like never before. You can find or create critique groups, which not only provide a community of likeminded writers, but also have tools that help organize events and members’ submissions.
Critique groups are an integral part of a successful writer’s process. From the novice to professional, all of us need feedback from other writers to help shape our stories into something special. In this age of technology, authors have more information at their fingertips than previous generations could dream of. A site like Criticular was bound to happen, and now that it’s here it could transform you and your writing—all while helping a fellow writer do the same.
Whatever method you choose, I encourage you to join a critique group and get the most out of it. If you’re in one now, hopefully this can shed new light on what they can do for you.
Big thanks to Graeme for the guest post!
–Mark Landen
Founder of http://www.Criticular.com
Read my previous posts about writers groups here and here. – Graeme