There are many, many levels of support a Writers Critique Group can offer. Read on for ideas!
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Writers Critique Groups
They provide eyes and feedback on your pages, fill up your creative cup and offer you trust and camaraderie. But what are some other ways a Writers Critique Group can benefit you? This is Part II in my Critique Group series. See my first post on why you need one here.
Accountability
Pages are due by a certain day. That means you need to have them done by then. It’s a built-in accountability system. I’ve also done Butt-in-the-Seat challenges with my Writers Critique Groups.
These are when we’ve decided on either a daily or weekly check in system. We usually text each other with a report on how often we got our butt in the seat and a status report on how much we accomplished.
Alpha or Beta Reading Developmental Feedback
It’s great to get line-level feedback on particular chapters or page counts. That’s the traditional Critique Group setup. But there are times you need more. Sometimes you need trusted Critique partners who are willing to do full manuscript reads. My one Critique Group does this on both the “alpha” and the “beta” stages. Alpha- That very newborn baby idea stage where the writer is still in need of spitballing ideas to bring it to life. And Beta- The first draft is there and now it’s identifying what’s working, what’s not and what needs more clarification or depth. We’ve had different partners sign on for different stages so it’s not too much work for any one person. It’s also a way to get different opinions.
New Idea Generating
There are times where writers are in between projects and need help coming up with their next ideas. Or, my one Critique Group decided to do this preemptively around Christmas one year since we knew that’s generally a low productivity time for us. So, we came up with a game called Premise Palooza. We spent the month sitting down for fifteen minutes a day and coming up with as many premises (ideas) as we could. My one Critique Partner wrote about our experience here in more detail.
Sharing Writing Experiences
Sharing writing prompts, swapping craft book recommendations, participating in Write-ins, or even attending Writing Conferences together. One of the best things about having a Critique Group is that you have a built-in network of Writing Friends to do writing things with! So, be creative and come up with the best ways you can think outside of the box and support each other!
Do you have any more ideas I didn’t mention? Please share them in the comments below!
What a superb piece of writing! Both the thoroughness and lucidity of your analysis are much appreciated. Your data was both practical and pertinent. This is a post that I will return to at a later date. Your knowledge and insight are much appreciated.