Writing Group

My writing group has just finished editing and critiquing my precious words. The story has been a long time in the finishing. I will tell you a critique group is one of the most valuable parts of the writing process. The group has lent their professionalism and advice and the tale feels complete finally. Now, it’s my turn to be critical of those words, one more reading with my ear tuned for faults.

Each member of my group has a strength that has helped me develop my writing technic. We meet weekly and take with us the critiqued chapters of our fellow members that were emailed days earlier. Then we read each other’s pieces, one chapter a week each, and discuss them. I’ve grown a pretty thick skin. They point out problems and provide possible solutions. They catch the little errors that, no matter how often I read and reread a piece, I miss. I can bounce thoughts off them and get good feed-back. They tell me, “dump this part and move that part,” and I know they are recognizing in the words what I can’t, they hear the good cadence and the bad, see where things aren’t working and things are. But always they are encouraging.

Thank you, Zee, David, Robb and Jenn.
Thank you, Janet, Diane, Anna and Kate.