Thursday, November 13, 2008

Top 7 Reasons to Join a Critique Group?

Today's forecast for St. Peters: Mostly cloudy, high 65 degrees, chance of rain this evening.

Hope my review yesterday of THE KILLING CIRCLE by Andrew Pyper about a deadly critique circle hasn't scared you off.

If you're still game, here are my:

Top 7 Reasons for Joining a Critique Group:*

*Why 7? Why not!

7. You like to read your works-in-progress in front of others and enjoy listening to others read their works-in-progress to you.
6. You enjoy having your words ripped to shreds in public and returning the favor to your critique group friends. (just kidding)
5. You like hanging out with weird people (just kidding--oops, well, maybe not)
4. Commas and semicolons make you sweat, so you hope someone in the critique group will explain them to you.
3. There's nothing to watch on TV except reruns
2. You have a break between bowling league and softball season

And the number one reason for joining a critique group

1. Unlike your family, friends, or co-workers, members of your critique group won't cover their ears and run away when you start to talk about your manuscript.

Kidding aside, if you want to learn more about the critique group I belong to (Coffee and Critique) visit the blogsite. Tricia Grissom has done an excellent job creating and maintaining the site, which includes markets, writing tips, and her ideas on running a critique group. http://coffeeandcritique.blogspot.com/

Tomorrow I will announce the winner in the Cup of Comfort for Military Families book contest. If you haven't entered yet, you still have time. Just send an e-mail by midnight tonight to me at dvolkenannt@charter.net with "Welcome Home" in the subject line. Include your name, mailing address, and e-mail address.

4 comments:

  1. Here's a couple of other good reasons to join a critique group. Fellow writers are happy to provide subtle (or not so subtle) incentives to get you writing.
    And when you finally bring something to read, they gift you with some pretty darned helpful feedback on your work!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's a good one, Pat.
    Thanks for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fun blog, Donna. I've added you to my link list. Just to be snarky, I blogged about seven reasons NOT to join a critique group. You can see them at:
    http://midlistwriter.blogspot.com/2008/11/seven-reasons-for-not-joining-critique.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Sean,
    Thanks for stopping by. I'll check out your blog.
    Donna

    ReplyDelete

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