On Monday, September 3, my critique group met to discuss a chapter from Call of the Unicorn. The biggest advantage to a critique group is that one gets feedback on how his story is being perceived by people who don’t have a personal interest in the story. The author can take the comments home and fix the weak areas.

This sounds great in theory, but I gotta tell ya it can still be traumatic.

One of the things we did at the Writers Retreat was have a night owl session during which different people would discuss their stories. We would all then brain storm the story to give the author ideas to work with. One writer told about her critique group in which she was the main contributor to the group. In addition, one of the members was very critical of the writer’s stories, but rarely submitted anything herself. The writer made an interesting remark, “I feel like I’m the one always on the chopping block.”

I understood how she felt. We spend days, weeks, and sometimes months polishing our submission. When someone comes along and points out what she perceives as mistakes, it can feel like your writing is worthless and you shouldn’t even be trying.

Many of those critiques come from the know-it-alls. “A person wouldn’t act that way,” they’ll tell me. “People in that city think like this.” “The police don’t do that.”

They also throw “rules” at me. “Show; don’t tell.” “Don’t be repetitive,” even when the story calls for it. I think the worst, though, are the line editors. These are the ones who will cross out words and write over them, “Delete.” Or, “Unnecessary.” To me, these sound like orders, as though the person critique wants me to know, "I know how to write, and you don't."  It got so bad with one person, that it felt as though he were looking over my shoulder while I was trying to write. I would hear his voice criticizing every sentence.

After awhile, I figured out how to silence him in my head. A couple of days after the meeting, I would take out his critique and critique it! A couple of sessions later, I could write without his voice whispering in my ear.

A critique group can be beneficial. It can give you ideas to consider that you may have overlooked. The thing to remember, though, is that a critique is only someone’s opinion. I always recommend a writer to critique the critique, even if I’m the one who’s giving it. I find it helps me maintain the focus of my own vision of the story. It also gives me a chance to call them dirty names on the page. After all, the one who critiqued my story will never see my criticisms of their criticisms.

In the end, I would recommend a writer joining a critique group. Keep in mind, though, that not all critique groups are created equal. If you find that the group is over-critical or, conversely, is simply rubber stamping their approval, you can always find another group better suited to your needs.