Why You Need A Writer’s Critique Group
Why have a writer’s group? Because different points of view will improve your work. Because they are “beta readers”, if only piece by piece. Because they share your interest and will share what they know with you, and you with them. Because they are part of your writer community. Below, I will give you points to consider in forming your own, and links to “rules” that my own group uses.
My writer’s group is the Village Peeps of Corvallis. I joined the group way back in the late 90s soon after it formed. We all (I think) had taken writing classes from a great children’s fiction writer, the late Anne Warren Smith. Using her rules for giving and receiving feedback, decided to “take it to the next level” and form our own group.
Members have changed over the years, with a few members moving away (whom we still consider honorary members), and a couple passing away, and then others joining to take their places. There are eight of us at the moment, and not likely to increase (Margie, Marissa, Dean, Beverley, Monica, Donovan, Ann Marie, and myself). It’s a good number for our style. We used to meet at the Good Samaritan Village, so we were the “Village People” at first. (These days, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we meet online using Zoom).
No matter how polished I think my draft is, they will always find things that need changed…
