Comments on: How To Run a Successful Critique Group http://blog.klgore.com/2010/05/21/how-to-run-a-successful-critique-group/ Author Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:42:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Gore Wehner http://blog.klgore.com/2010/05/21/how-to-run-a-successful-critique-group/#comment-1129 Gore Wehner Mon, 06 Sep 2010 19:16:14 +0000 http://blog.klgore.com/2010/05/21/how-to-run-a-successful-critique-group/#comment-1129 Very interesting comment you've made, Dave. Certainly if one wishes to receive harsh, honest feedback for one's work, a writer needs to be very receptive to criticism. As a fellow writer, I find this a difficult feat. No one wants to be told what they've just spent six months writing has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. Nor do biased opinions aid in the creative process. So what to do? As I mentioned in tip #3, you need to decide whether or not the person critiquing has any basis in what they are recommending. Someone who reads only crime novels may not be the perfect fit for a romance novel, for example. There are many overlaps within genres, such as character development and sentence structure. But a romance novel may have elements a crime writer might find irrelevant or even hackneyed. I happen to know your work is more of a psychological, literary bent. If you have written a story that others do not seem to understand, ask yourself these questions: Do these writers understand deep human psychology? Do they have valid points in their misunderstanding? Did they enjoy the story and get something out of it, even if they did not understand exactly what I was trying to say? Did they find reading this a waste of their time? You may wish to form your own group, seeking writers who write the type of stories you do. On-line critique groups are perfect for this. You can advertise your group on college campuses, say, where you are more likely to find literary writers. Many literary magazines are published through colleges. Seek these out. They may know of critique groups you can join. A great place to look into are the Yahoo on-line groups. I run one on there, and it's very easy to set up if you would like to start one. Or, if you prefer, there are many established writing groups you can search for through Yahoo Groups. In all, don't be discouraged. Remember, you are your best critic. Go with your gut. Even the most famous writers have had people reject or ridicule their work. Writing is very subjective. Not everyone will understand or like what you write every time. Good luck! Very interesting comment you’ve made, Dave. Certainly if one wishes to receive harsh, honest feedback for one’s work, a writer needs to be very receptive to criticism. As a fellow writer, I find this a difficult feat. No one wants to be told what they’ve just spent six months writing has more holes in it than Swiss cheese. Nor do biased opinions aid in the creative process. So what to do? As I mentioned in tip #3, you need to decide whether or not the person critiquing has any basis in what they are recommending. Someone who reads only crime novels may not be the perfect fit for a romance novel, for example. There are many overlaps within genres, such as character development and sentence structure. But a romance novel may have elements a crime writer might find irrelevant or even hackneyed.

I happen to know your work is more of a psychological, literary bent. If you have written a story that others do not seem to understand, ask yourself these questions: Do these writers understand deep human psychology? Do they have valid points in their misunderstanding? Did they enjoy the story and get something out of it, even if they did not understand exactly what I was trying to say? Did they find reading this a waste of their time?

You may wish to form your own group, seeking writers who write the type of stories you do. On-line critique groups are perfect for this. You can advertise your group on college campuses, say, where you are more likely to find literary writers. Many literary magazines are published through colleges. Seek these out. They may know of critique groups you can join.

A great place to look into are the Yahoo on-line groups. I run one on there, and it’s very easy to set up if you would like to start one. Or, if you prefer, there are many established writing groups you can search for through Yahoo Groups.

In all, don’t be discouraged. Remember, you are your best critic. Go with your gut. Even the most famous writers have had people reject or ridicule their work. Writing is very subjective. Not everyone will understand or like what you write every time.

Good luck!

]]> By: Dave http://blog.klgore.com/2010/05/21/how-to-run-a-successful-critique-group/#comment-1113 Dave Sun, 05 Sep 2010 04:42:22 +0000 http://blog.klgore.com/2010/05/21/how-to-run-a-successful-critique-group/#comment-1113 Hi Kim, Do you know any groups that function like this? One thing I am personally trying is attending another writing group for the first time on Wednesday night. I think that an interesting bit of truth in what you've written in the 2nd paragraph. The problem is that eventually, even when you start out as strangers, the more times you meet with people, the more familiar you are with them, and they with you. Obviously, trust is going to be a big issue if this familiarity is encountered. If you have read my short story "The Cafe for Lacklustre Writers", (There are some people who have totally misunderstood the meaning of the story. That perhaps, is what is missing from my story, and that is my fault as an author. I wrote that story twenty years ago however, and if the meaning of that story is still not clear, than obviously I have failed for a long time as an author. And that was the first story I presented in my writing group I participate in now.)The story was inspired by thinking of an article I read about Samuel Beckett a long time ago in Esquire magazine. Beckett was described in many negative terms by the members of writing critique group that formed in a Paris cafe (They were all established and famous writers). Despite his abrasiveness, his criticism was validated by his honesty. It's not that I wanted to a jerk, but I wanted, want, to find a place where we place writing principles above author's personality. I wanted then, as I do now, to find a way to belong to such a group. I wanted to find a group that would want me to be a part of it. I was a lacklustre writer, I wanted to find a place to belong. Anyways, here is a brief description of Beckett's opinions: "Beckett debunks modernism's epistemological concerns and depicts the mind's autonomy as hopelessly vulnerable to the extramental and excremental contingencies of the body as the object of pleasure, pain, social power, and death."(Alexander McKee Breaking the Habit: Samuel Beckett's Critique of Irish-Ireland New Hibernia Review - Volume 14, Number 1, Earrach/Spring 2010, pp. 42-58) You see, even Beckett could be respected by what he added to the group, even though it was unlikely that there would be a lot of subjective bonding which, as you point out, can inhibit good critiquing from people who are afraid of "hurting your feelings". As authors, though, we should be striving to rise above the mediocre and the cliche and really be the best we can be. Hi Kim,
Do you know any groups that function like this? One thing I am personally trying is attending another writing group for the first time on Wednesday night. I think that an interesting bit of truth in what you’ve written in the 2nd paragraph. The problem is that eventually, even when you start out as strangers, the more times you meet with people, the more familiar you are with them, and they with you. Obviously, trust is going to be a big issue if this familiarity is encountered. If you have read my short story “The Cafe for Lacklustre Writers”, (There are some people who have totally misunderstood the meaning of the story. That perhaps, is what is missing from my story, and that is my fault as an author. I wrote that story twenty years ago however, and if the meaning of that story is still not clear, than obviously I have failed for a long time as an author. And that was the first story I presented in my writing group I participate in now.)The story was inspired by thinking of an article I read about Samuel Beckett a long time ago in Esquire magazine. Beckett was described in many negative terms by the members of writing critique group that formed in a Paris cafe (They were all established and famous writers). Despite his abrasiveness, his criticism was validated by his honesty. It’s not that I wanted to a jerk, but I wanted, want, to find a place where we place writing principles above author’s personality. I wanted then, as I do now, to find a way to belong to such a group. I wanted to find a group that would want me to be a part of it. I was a lacklustre writer, I wanted to find a place to belong. Anyways, here is a brief description of Beckett’s opinions: “Beckett debunks modernism’s epistemological concerns and depicts the mind’s autonomy as hopelessly vulnerable to the extramental and excremental contingencies of the body as the object of pleasure, pain, social power, and death.”(Alexander McKee
Breaking the Habit: Samuel Beckett’s Critique of Irish-Ireland
New Hibernia Review - Volume 14, Number 1, Earrach/Spring 2010, pp. 42-58)

You see, even Beckett could be respected by what he added to the group, even though it was unlikely that there would be a lot of subjective bonding which, as you point out, can inhibit good critiquing from people who are afraid of “hurting your feelings”.

As authors, though, we should be striving to rise above the mediocre and the cliche and really be the best we can be.

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