Thread: Writer's Critique Groups

I belong to several writer's groups that are informal gatherings of first time novelists who get together and critique each other's work. Each person will present one or two chapters per session, no more than 20 pages, consecutively moving through his or her book chronologically.

I think for the most part this is helpful but often I get discouraged in that if I talk with 15 different people, I get 15 different opinions. Cut this, add this, describe that character, get rid of the description of that character, etc. There is so much conflict in the opinions of my group members that I am beginning to wonder if this is a valid use of my time at all.

In addition, people are critiquing a chapter without having read the whole book, thus having lost vital context. Perhaps it is better to have someone read the whole manuscript at once and hold off on commenting until they have seen the whole thing?

What are your opinions on writer's critique groups, valid or a waste of time and possibly detrimental?

well the way i do it with my beta readers is i first give them the opportunity to talk about what stood out to them. and then after they're done or have nothing else to add I start interviewing them. I always start off asking 1. What didn't you like about it? This is usually followed by 2. Did this chapter meet your expectations based on the previous chapter? Then I begin to ask about specific areas that they didn't mention and I ask their thoughts on it especially if this is part of a larger device or plot point because this tells me if I need to trim it down or make it more noticeable or if I got it just where it needs to be.

But basically I ask their thoughts about it because like you said, everyone gives different and most often inconsistent levels of feedback and are suddenly literary experts because they got a A in ENG101 back in college.

And I usually end it by asking what are some of their expectations for the next chapter.

The question is whether the members of the group are capable of evaluating?