Writey Group: Also a Grood Thing
Despite my complaints about other folks' critique tactics and writers who seem to me too defensive, there are many wonderful people in and grood things about writey group, and here they are.
The group as a whole is very conscious of the writer's feelings, and I've never felt like anyone got attacked during their critique. Everyone is kind in the way that they give their critiques. At the same time, they are not too kind - they'll definitely let the writer know if they don't understand or like something.
There are certain people whose comments I always agree with. Is that a good thing? It doesn't mean they're right, but I definitely feel more comfortable knowing that some people think the way I do.
When you submit to this writing group, you know that your work will be read carefully. I was pleased to get copies of my story back all marked up; it meant that someone read the thing and took the time to write comments. It's easier said than done, too. I always find a critique day comes up faster than I think it will, and I'm sometimes scrambling, not to read the posted stuff, but to write comments.
To go into particulars of grood things, at the last meeting I talked to a new member who a) always says something interesting and to the point about work, and b) has a number of short stories published in various literary mags, and c) whose work I've read online and liked. He was super nice, and when I told him I'd read some of his stuff, and was interested in eventually trying to go the same route with publishing, said, oh, you need to check out Duotrope.com, it's a listing of all the online literary mags. He went on to tell me he's negotiating a contract with a publisher for a novel. This guy is pretty quiet compared to some folks in the group (ahem, me included, yes I've discovered I have That Guy tendencies.) He's really nice and not obnoxious at all. And successful, in the terms that I define success. I sort of felt vindicated by this.
So, to sum up: Writey Group - a grood thing.
The group as a whole is very conscious of the writer's feelings, and I've never felt like anyone got attacked during their critique. Everyone is kind in the way that they give their critiques. At the same time, they are not too kind - they'll definitely let the writer know if they don't understand or like something.
There are certain people whose comments I always agree with. Is that a good thing? It doesn't mean they're right, but I definitely feel more comfortable knowing that some people think the way I do.
When you submit to this writing group, you know that your work will be read carefully. I was pleased to get copies of my story back all marked up; it meant that someone read the thing and took the time to write comments. It's easier said than done, too. I always find a critique day comes up faster than I think it will, and I'm sometimes scrambling, not to read the posted stuff, but to write comments.
To go into particulars of grood things, at the last meeting I talked to a new member who a) always says something interesting and to the point about work, and b) has a number of short stories published in various literary mags, and c) whose work I've read online and liked. He was super nice, and when I told him I'd read some of his stuff, and was interested in eventually trying to go the same route with publishing, said, oh, you need to check out Duotrope.com, it's a listing of all the online literary mags. He went on to tell me he's negotiating a contract with a publisher for a novel. This guy is pretty quiet compared to some folks in the group (ahem, me included, yes I've discovered I have That Guy tendencies.) He's really nice and not obnoxious at all. And successful, in the terms that I define success. I sort of felt vindicated by this.
So, to sum up: Writey Group - a grood thing.
posted by walkinhomefromthethriftstore at 4:34 AM
2 Comments:
Groodness! it's great that there's a member whom you show a lot of respect for. those are the peers who keep you motivated.
It helps that he writes scifi, too. :) But like, GOOD scifi.
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