Always quirky, sometimes sweet speculative fiction

First Meeting

I’ve been wanting to join a writers group for a long time, craving the chance to both be critiqued by others (particularly those not emotionally invested in myself and my work) and to improve my own critiquing skills. Both time and fear have been holding me back.

The fear was the smaller of the two problems. I’m not an introvert so talking to strangers isn’t a daunting task. What worried me was that the group would not work for me. I worried that either I would dislike them (too harsh with their critiques and/or taking joy in that or too nice and pandering, not allowing themselves to say things that needed to be said) or they would dislike me for the similar reasons to why I might have not liked them.

The group I joined was a delight. We all noticed different things from the same pieces and while opinions occasionally differed it didn’t create any animosity between the opposed individuals. I was also glad to find out I wasn’t  awful at critiquing – which was another fear I had since I’ve never critiqued anything and then been able to listen to the author’s reply, unless you count myself… which would be weird.

While the whole group writes in the speculative fiction genre we all seem to write slightly different sub-genres, giving us all a chance to enjoy the widely varied worlds and styles. It was a fun day with some very cool people. I’m looking forward to our next meeting and a little disappointed it’s a whole month away!

7 Comments

  1. Erica

    Sounds like a blast! I’d love to give it a go one day…. when things are quieter…if ever..

  2. Marita

    Well done for getting out to the meeting, I find those situations really challenging as I dislike going out to places and would much rather stay home. Generally by the end I’ve had fun, but it is getting there that is very hard work.
    Marita recently posted..Trash Pack Party ! The GamesMy Profile

    • Kirstie

      I’m the same, I must confess I’d been intending to go since the start of the year, but things just kept coming up that would make it too difficult. I had to just tell everyone ‘I’m doing this’ so then it would be worse to explain to people why I hadn’t done it (and so no one would accidentlly interfere)

  3. Merrilee

    Excellent! A crit group does wonders for your writing, and it’s a great social thing to. Non-writers just don’t get it sometimes 🙂
    Merrilee recently posted..Christopher Ruz talks about his revision processMy Profile

  4. Liz

    I’m so glad you liked it! My writers’ group is at a community college, so when the semester ends I’m pretty much screwed, but this summer we’re going to try to continue meeting every week. (Fingers crossed that everyone’s schedules will work.) I truly believe that a good writers’ group is an invaluable tool. I hope yours continues to be awesome!
    Liz recently posted..My (Bad) Writing HabitsMy Profile

    • Kirstie

      Perhaps if your group sets a specific date? Ours meets ‘the first Sunday of every month’. Sometimes you expend so much energy trying to get ‘everyone’ to come that it all falls apart. I’m looking forward to our next meeting, but can’t decide what to submit for critique.

      • Liz

        I emailed everyone earlier today. Someone had to take charge! 😀

        I always have a hard time choosing pieces for critique. You could pick something that you’ve been working on and have been feeling stuck with. I always walk out feeling inspired when I do that (though I also always need a few days to let the piece “breathe”).
        Liz recently posted..My (Bad) Writing HabitsMy Profile

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