Hunting Guide: Critique Groups, Where to Find and Bag Them

Critique partners (or groups) are like agents: good ones are worth their weight in gold. Bad ones are worse than not having one at all. By a long shot. But you've heard that all week long, right? So the question is: How do you find the mythical beast? The unicorn that is a good critique group? You have a few options.

1. Meet Up - install the app and the search for writing groups. Chances are excellent that you'll find a number of writing groups meeting near you. Read through their descriptions and go check out a few. You get a 30 day trial before you have to commit to paying for anything. And you can try out several groups - go, talk to people, listen to what they're writing. Listen to HOW they talk to one another about writing. CAUTION: I did have a Meet Up writing group near me, but the group was more interesting in cheerleading than in making something better and they read snippets of work that were far too short to allow anyone to really work on story craft. So for my money, it wasn't a bad group, it just wasn't pointed in the direction I was going. Have an idea of what you're looking for when you go in.
2. Your local library - chances are excellent that there's a local writers organization partnered with your neighborhood library. There may not be published critique meetings, but there are likely to be events like book signings that would allow you to begin talking to the writers and find out how to join the group. From there, you begin asking around about critique groups.
3. Cons - Attending conventions aimed at what you write gives you access to people writing the same-ish genre. You'll find all kinds of organizations aimed at you. (Norwescon, my local scifi/fantasy con almost always has Broad Universe - the women in scifi - reps offering up membership info.) There are also a ton of writers and aspiring writers of every type there. Talk to them. Ask about critique groups. You never know.
4. Writing Org Membership - Finding crit groups has been the greatest boon granted to me by RWA. My local chapter gave me my local critique group. My online chapter gave me the excellent critique partners I rely on as beta readers. It came from going to meetings, getting to know people, getting to know what they wrote and talking about wanting a critique group.

There are likely more ways to find critique partners and beta readers, but allow me to trot out an adage: You are the average of the five people you spend  the most time with. Meaning you can pick a critique group that will either lift you up or drag you down. The choice is yours. When you do get invited to a critique group, date! Don't commit straight off. Go to a meeting. Listen to how these people critique one another. Is the crit constructive? If problems are identified in a piece of work, are suggestions for fixes given? Are the crits voice appropriate to each author and piece of work? Does your critique style mesh? Don't be afraid to go through several groups before finding the right fit. I'm on groups five and six. Some didn't work very well, some I moved away, some everyone else moved away. The point is that you don't have to jump at the first thing to come along unless you're confident that you will become a better writer for joining. That, after all, is the point - to grow and to help your critique partners to do the same.

Crit Partners vs. Beta Readers

This week's topic in the Bordello is critique partners (CPs) - why we do or don't have them.

It's surprising to me that, while many aspiring and newbie authors use CPs, it seems like many authors gradually grow away from them over time. Particularly if they are working with editors. Also, more and more these days I hear writers refer to "beta readers" more than CPs, which I think indicates a few trends.

First off, let's define some terms, as they are in the Jeffe-verse. Your mileage may vary, but this is how I see it.

CP

A CP is someone who reads your work with a critical eye and provides feedback that might range from light edits to recommendations for exhaustive revisions. Usually this person is another author, who may or may not write in the same genre that you do. This relationship is usually reciprocal, where you act as a CP for their work, too. In fact, it's usually better that way, because having one person provide all the crit can cause problems for both. On the one hand, it's not fair to the person providing all the work and getting no benefit, on the other, a person who provides crit without subjecting themselves to crit in return can become callous and even mean.

Beta Reader

At the risk of being all GET OFF MY LAWN, when I first turned my dewy newbie author eyes on the shiny goal of becoming a career writer, I never heard the term "beta reader." Later I began to hear it used by established authors, who used it to mean a group of select (usually devoted readers of a series) people who would read the finished book with the expectation that feedback would be mild or high level. Then I heard more self-publishing authors adopt the term - and they seemed to use it in place of CP. To me (and I could be wrong), this reflects a trend of thought among self-publishing authors that critique kills voice and originality. A beta reader relationship can be reciprocal, but is more often one-sided.

Editor

I'm going to say that an editor is a paid, professional position - whether paid by a publishing company or a self-publishing author. (I have both. In fact, my editor from one of my traditional publishing houses works freelance also, and I hire her to edit my self-pubbed work, too.) An editor of this type typically provides developmental edits, which can range from mild tweaks to exhaustive revisions. A second stage, line-editing, handles less substantive issues - grammar, wording, continuity, etc. Note that copy-editing and proofreading are different! Those should not address content, but focus on formatting, grammar, typos, etc. This relationship is almost always entirely one-sided.

Okay! All of that said... do I have CPs?

Yes, indeedy, I do!

From the very dewy-eyed beginning, I have valued my CPs, and nothing has changed that. One of them is sister Word Whore Marcella Burnard. We've been CPs for ... wow, Marcella - six years? And sister Word Whore KAK has been a CP off and on. Several of the Word Whore alums have been CPs, too - though sadly are also CP alums at this point. People move on, yanno? These days I have two steadfast CPs who see almost everything I write. I also have several other author friends who I can send stuff to, depending on what the story is (since I write in multiple genres). My author assistant, Carien, acts as a beta reader at times - particularly on questions of series continuity.

My CPs are the ones who make sure I don't turn in complete shite to my editors. They read for me and we can talk out plot arcs and world building points. Some of my CPs skip reading and we just brainstorm plots with each other.

But all of this is by way of saying that I value crit highly - whether from CPs or editors. I think my editors can do better work if I've run things through my CPs first, because they can then focus on the higher level stuff and not have to fix basic structural/world/story issues.

As for the idea that critique can ruin voice or creativity... No, I don't believe it. Sure, an author has to winnow through the feedback she receives. It's key to learn what's an individual preference and what's going to matter to a lot of readers. But the one thing I'm sure of - almost no CP or editor ever sets out to kill a book and force it to conform to some standard. If you do encounter a toxic person like that - run, don't walk in the other direction. And know that it's the person, not the institution.

Good CPs are gold. They keep me humble, willing to examine my own work in depth, and on the course of ever-improving.

Thanks ever so much, ladies!

Dear Convention Abby

Dear Convention Abby;

Boy, does that title sound like something other than what you mean. I have a confession to make: I am all out of conference and convention stories. Horror or otherwise. What I do have in a similar vein revolves around the biggest mistakes I've ever made with a critique group. Possibly groups.

1. Getting defensive - sure, sure, I knew intellectually that no one signed up to critique my stuff just for the joy of burning my work to the ground. Anyone reading was honestly trying to help make a story better. But I got all huffy and defensive and kept explaining that they didn't understand. I was right. My crit partners didn't understand. Because I hadn't put what was in my head on the paper they held in their hands. Convention Abby replies: Dear Defensive, Dear Convention Abby hears the one about convention nuns all the time. It's not funny anymore. If ever it was. However, kudos to you for identifying one of your core issues - realizing that your only chance to explain anything to anyone is in putting the words on the paper (virtual or otherwise) in their hot little hands. There's another one: Closing your mouth on the urge to defend. Communication styles differ and you won't mesh with everyone all the time, but your critique group's feedback should be constructive, not destructive, and you should respect your group enough to listen to their opinions - not take them blindly - allow room for critiquers to voice opinions without defensive interruption. If you can't respect your group, find another one.
2. Not asking questions - Greatest question ever: 'Any suggestions for how to fix it?' asked when someone identifies a problem in my work that blindsides me. I'm not asking anyone to do the work for me. I'm looking for more information about the problem from as many angles as I can get. I'm also looking for mental prompts that nudge my brain from deer-in-the-headlights to problem-solving. Dear Convention Abby disagrees with Not Asking Questions. The single greatest question ever is "Red, White, or Rose?"
3. Staying with a group too long - A good critique group is hard to find, and it often seems that the only way to find a good one is to go through a couple of bad ones. Not that the people are bad. Or that their intentions aren't good. Bad for me turned out to be a perfect storm of things: too many of us all being at the same writing level while one member was far enough ahead in skill level that the rest of us had nothing to offer her. In return, her critiques were too far over our heads. We kept at it anyway. Until the resentment got to be too much and the group imploded. The next 'bad' group is a good group you've outgrown. Everyone absorbs information at their own pace. If you learn quickly, chances are 50/50 that you'll outgrow at least one of your initial critique groups. Not a problem if there's no resentment involved either on your part or on the part of those still struggling. Dear Convention Abby would like to point out to Staying With a Group Too Long: There is another aspect you must face and that is being left behind by those who have outstripped your skill. It will happen. Never is that a comment on you or your writing. It is 100% about the needs of the writer leaving you in his or her dust. Brush yourself off, keep writing and repeat after me: "It's not personal." Unless, of course, you made sure it WAS personal...not a course that Dear Convention Abby recommends. Also, never stay with a  group whose members are not working. Everyone has off days that stretch into weeks or months. But if the writing dry spells go on too long, you do not belong to a critique group. You belong to a social club.
4. Failing to be gentle and constructive when offering feedback on someone else's work. Want to feel 2" tall? Be a bit harsh and see one of your critique partners cry in response. O_o Dear Convention Abby feels your pain. Constructive means identifying the good as well as the bad in a story. A good rule of thumb when you identify an issue in a story and always offer up a potential solution as a good faith gesture that you aren't saying the story or writing sucks. "You could fix this by . . . " This forces you to learn to solve problems as you identify them. But beware assuming that your suggested fix is the right fix. Offer up your suggestions and let go. It's not your story.

Thanks, Dear Convention Abby! Glass of wine? These are by no means all of the mistakes that can be (or have been) made with critique groups. They merely top the list. Do you have critique group mistakes you're willing to admit to? I'll bring the wine.