The Beauty and Necessity of Critique: Ode to My Writing Group
About a month and a half ago, I met a lovely woman at a writer’s conference who invited me to visit her writers group in Brooklin. I’ve been going once a week and can’t believe the profound impact they now have on everything I write, I value them immensely, and I am learning to be a better writer every day because of them. I believe every group is a little different but with us, everyone takes a turn reading their chapter aloud and then we discuss it as a group. We offer constructive feedback, the good, the bad and occasionally the ugly. It’s a great format for polishing, editing, as well as testing out story ideas and hooks. The best part is that everyone checks their ego at the door because in the circle we are all just writers looking to strengthen our work and celebrate our love of the written word. But before you run out to search for a writers’ group of your own, there are a couple of things you ought to consider: Can you handle being critiqued? This was the first thing Marissa...