The essential ingredients of a successful Writer’s Critique Group

Patricia Smiley here…

I consider myself an expert on critique groups. Since I began writing, I’ve been in five of them and a member of one group for nine years. For the uninformed, a critique group is a gaggle of writers who meet on a regular basis (usually 3 hours once a week) to criticize each other’s work. I know that sounds sadomasochistic and it is.

Some people shun writer’s groups because they believe criticism stifles their creativity. That’s a legitimate concern. However, I find critique groups helpful for several reasons: (1) They connect me to a community of writers; (2) Writers are also readers who offer me a sounding board to determine what works and doesn’t work in my writing; and (3) To feel pain is to know you're alive.

In my experience, I have found that writers join critique groups for various reasons, including he/she:

1. Wants to be praised by his peers as the next Hemingway.
2. Has nothing to do on Wednesday evenings.
3. Gets free food during the break.
4. Has a crush on the blond who writes erotica.
5. Is filled with rage and hostile envy and needs a place to vent.
6. Wants to become a better writer.

As you have already guessed, only those writers subscribing to number six meet with much success because critique groups aren’t for the faint of heart.

Here are some qualities of a perfect writing group member. He/she:

1. Is a voracious and eclectic reader.
2. Knows the difference between things like “point of view” and “voice.”
3. Knows what suspense is, how to create it, and how to teach others how to create it.
4. Has no hidden agendas.
5. Never says, "I don’t read crime fiction because it’s all crap."
6. Knows how to compliment as well as to criticize.

Groups work best when they adhere to the following principals:

1. The perfect critique group has a leader who controls the show and doesn’t allow psychodramas or bullying.
2. Members show up on time and come prepared. “My dog ate my prologue” is not an acceptable excuse.
3. There is a time limit or a page limit on what each member reads. Attention hogs need not apply.
4. The writer is never criticized only the writing.
5. Attendance is required even if one has nothing to read. Writers must give as well as take.
6. The writer listens attentively during the critique without interrupting, justifying, or chastising the dunderheads who do not “get” what he's trying to say.
7. The writer thanks the group for their insightful comments and refrains from bitter tears until she is at home sucking Chianti through a straw.

The next writer's critique group is now forming. Anybody want to join?

***Congratulations to Paulie***

Our very own Paul Levine's latest tome, Illegal, which was just released but is already in its second printing, has been the recipient of glowing reviews, including this one by Jon Land at The Providence Journal in Providence, Rhode Island.


“… the most original, offbeat and wholly entertaining thriller of the year so far. Levine is a brilliant stylist as well as storyteller, reminding me of James W. Hall and Rhode Island’s own Don Winslow, whose ability to turn a phrase keeps us turning pages just to see what they’re going to say next…it’s all about creating quirky heroes who fish, surf or, in the case of Jimmy Payne, fight to hold themselves together with whiskey and paper clips.

"In fact, everything about Illegal is satisfying. It’s one of those rare thrillers that reaches every level it strives for and hits a bull’s-eye with every staccato phrase Levine fires off. Timely, tumultuous, and in a word, terrific.”

Congrats Paulie. You make us Nakeds proud.

Happy Monday!