Of cars and writing groups
Sunday, November 30th, 2008
No one is surprised that few short stories or novels will be ready to go right from first draft. One way writers can help improve their work is to put it in front of a writing group for feedback. As well as offering critiques, writing groups can help with networking, market tips and plain old-fashioned friendship.
Brisbane has the best open speculative fiction writing group in Australia. It’s called Vision and has helped nurture writers such as Trent Jamieson, Marianne de Pierres, Grace Dugan, Dirk Flinthart, Jason Nahrung, Cory Daniels and others.
I learnt a lot from Vision and wanted to share some of my thoughts about what makes a good writing group. First off, the car thing. Writing groups are like cars for a number of reasons:
- They’re very useful in modern publishing.
- They will help you get places faster
- You’ll pick up some friends along the way
- Just make sure you don’t choose a lemon
So, how do you choose a good writing group? Let’s be honest though - working out whether a writing group is the right one for you comes mostly down to gut. But here are three simple rules that may help you work things out faster.
Rule one: If others don’t take their writing seriously they probably won’t take your writing seriously either. The single best way to ascertain how serious others are about their writing is to ask a few simple questions:
- How many people have published something in the last six months?
- How many people have submitted something out in the last six weeks?
- How many people have started or finished something in the last six days?
- How many people have done any writing in the last six hours?
If the answer to all of those questions is ‘none’ you may want to reconsider participation in that group. Having people who don’t treat their writing as a ‘hobby that they’ll get around to some time’ is even more important than having people writing in the same genre as you.
Rule two: The only thing that sport and critique groups should have in common is that they should both be governed by a set of rules.
- Critiquing isn’t a performance sport and it’s not debating
- It shouldn’t be about stroking one person’s ego
- Should be a clear set of rules about the critiquing process
A writing group should operate in a civilized and consistent manner. It should give all members a good opportunity to participate and it should have checks and balances that stop one person dominating.
Rule three: When the critique group outgrows its usefulness to you, move on.
Humans are social creatures and belonging to a tribe is important. It’s even more vital for writers who spend much of their time tapping away in solitude. So, if the time comes that you’re not getting much from the core work of the group, maybe it’s time to move on. When it’s time to move on, move on. Just think about how you can pay it forward.
They are some of my quick thoughts. Anyone else have any suggestions or experiences - good or bad?
