eBook Reading and Writing

Lucynda Storey posted a good article about critique groups. She has had amazing success improving her writing using critique groups. Here’s the link to Lucynda’s Blog (it’s purple) and the good advice about critique groups for eBook writers is reprinted below:

Anyone serious about writing eventually asks the question, “What is a critique group? Should I belong to one?” Critique groups have the ability to be the bane of our existence or the support we wish we’d had for our writing all along. Belonging to a critique group is powerful, no doubt about it.
A critique group is simply a gathering of writers who work together to improve their writing by offering criticism. The most effective groups have a limited number of participants and some simple rules.
Groups with five to seven participants seem to be the most effective. This allows for everyone to look over the other participants’ writing and make comments on what they’ve read. Much larger and it’s difficult to get through the work on a timely basis. Smaller groups run into problems when one participant is ill or takes a vacation. Many small groups don’t feel the time investment for two or three is worth the distance they must travel to meet face-to-face.
Not all groups physically meet. With the widespread use of chat loops such as Yahoo or SmartGroups, critiques can be done via the Internet. These groups tend to run a bit larger because members critique at their leisure.
Simple rules are necessary to ensure the success of a critique group. One basic rule common to many groups is setting a minimum/maximum page count to critique. Most groups don’t go lower than a five-page minimum and others set a maximum at twenty. Each critique group has to experiment and see what best fits the individuals of the group and the time constraints.
Many groups operate under the rule of “get one, give one” critiques. If you put a twenty-page chapter into a group for critique and you get four writers to comment on your work, be prepared to do four different twenty-page critiques in return.
Time allotment is another rule successful critique groups work with. Many set aside the first fifteen to thirty minutes to catch up on one another’s family news. Often a group will divide the amount of time set aside by the number of critiquers present. Others have discovered adjusting the page maximum takes care of time restrictions.
Other guidelines and patterns that vary from group to group include: reading aloud; selection of meeting place; periodic retreats; and brainstorming sessions.
Yet, the question remains, should you belong to a critique group? In order to decide if a group is a good fit for you, you need to examine a few things in your life. Can you commit to the time needed to be a valuable critique group member? In addition to meeting time, many groups send the work to be critiqued via e-mail. Are you capable of using your computer to track changes, make comments and return critiques?
Can you take the heat? Often critiques bruise our egos. We don’t like to hear/see we’ve used a word wrong, don’t have the proper tense for our words, or be accused of head hopping. It stings when you realize your baby isn’t so perfect after all.
Are you capable of leaving personal feelings out of the work you critique? Members of a critique group are diverse. Diversity can be a strength and a weakness depending on how you take the genres others write. It’s possible to have a romantic suspense author, an erotica author, and a historical author all in the same group. Just because another writer’s stories are different than yours is not a reason to go on the attack and tear the story apart. The only legitimate critique is one where the giver is helping the wordsmith hone their craft.
Leaving a critique group can be much like going through a divorce. The people in your group have gotten to know you and your writing quite intimately. Select a group with care. Attend a few sessions on a trial basis before you commit yourself “to critique or not to critique.”
Note: I am involved in three critique groups. One meets weekly, another monthly, and another is strictly via the Internet. Feel free to contact me with your questions.

You can catch Cyn at Realms of Love and on her Yahoo Loop. Read news about Lucynda Storey’s eBook release Refugee, the follow up to Simply Irresistible at What Women Read.