Voices in My Head

The first critique group I ever had was in college Creative Writing class. And, I will be perfectly honest here, I didn't benefit much. Don't get me wrong, there were some people who knew what to critique and what to leave alone and then there were people who didn't have a clue.

There were more in the latter category.

Like any other writer, I like to hear people praise my work, but that does nothing for me if I KNOW there is something wrong with it and they won't point it out to me. Even if THEY know there is something wrong with it. Most of the time, my most helpful critiques came from my professors (imagine that).

Once I left college behind, I decided that I still needed/craved feedback on my work. I had my doubts and reserves about my work. I knew that it wasn't perfect, but I also didn't think that it was so bad that I should just abandon it. But I needed improvement. So, I joined Writer's Digest Sci-Fi/Fantasy Forum.

These people helped me in so many ways. And, amazingly, they helped me grow as a writer more than any of my college critique groups. I learned the weaknesses in my writing. I learned the value of voice and style. I could actually put a name to character viewpoint and on and on. They've seen both FURY and DRAGON QUEEN and have helped me immeasurably on both.

But...

There comes a time when they can't help me anymore. Because, like me, they know the story too well, and it becomes easier to overlook those plot holes, those POV drifts, etc. And they definitely can't help me with my query.

So I've joined another critique group. One with fresh eyes and fresh voices and they have helped me see the flaws (minor and major) in my writing that some of my previous critters might have missed.

I'm not saying that I'm abandoning Writer's Digest. Not at all. But I won't be frequenting it as much since my main focus is on those two stories. However, new projects will go up in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Forum like always, and I will be sure to pop in and see how everyone is doing, because, besides from being my first critique group, I consider a lot of them my friends.

I also like this new crit group because you have to give crits to receive crits. So what goes around comes around. And that always makes me happy. :)