Comments on: How to Form A Writing Roundtable

By: How To Make Writing Less Lonely

How To Make Writing Less Lonely — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:37:17 +0000

[...] Form a Writing Roundtable–Gathering a group of writers together to review and discuss each other’s work is a great way to stay social and make writing less lonely. [...]

By: How To Deal with Conflicting Critiques « Procrastinating Writers

How To Deal with Conflicting Critiques « Procrastinating Writers — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:42:45 +0000

[...] you’re showing your writing to a group of people, such as in a creative writing class or a writing roundtable, it’s very likely you’ll receive conflicting criticism. This is because everyone has [...]

By: The Procrastinating Writer

The Procrastinating Writer — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:14:06 +0000

@CathrynG What a great idea!! Tune in June 30 for a blog post on dealing with conflicting comments in a critique

@Susan Johnston I agree. It is difficult to critique something from another genre, especially when it’s one you have no idea about. I think the trick for roundtables is to find people who write similarly (such as a fiction roundtable group or a non-fiction roundtable group).

I was once part of a roundtable group at work. Most people wrote fiction, but since we were all non-fiction editors my career, we allowed non-fiction writing as well.

By: Susan Johnston

Susan Johnston — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:28:26 +0000

I joined a writing critique group in college, and I’ve led writing critiques as part of the classes I teach. I agree with all of these tips except for the part about including writers of all genres. I understand that many writers span genres and that exposure to other writers and genres can be helpful.

However, I’ve observed the frustration when, for instance, a poet asks a journalist to critique her writing. The journalist may be at the top of her field and still not have the foggiest idea why the poem does or doesn’t work! The poor poet has spent hours honing her use of metaphor and the journalist is focused on real, concrete details (although she might borrow storytelling devices from fiction). All writing does not follow the same conventions or use the same devices, so it can feel almost like speaking a different language.

By: CathrynG

CathrynG — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:17:25 +0000

I participated in a weekly critique group for about a year. It was a great experience in terms of writing camaraderie and a huge help in moving my novel forward.

The group was well-structured – everyone was committed, submitted their work according to schedule and provided summarized written feedback as well as margin notations for writing that stood out ( just a few check marks to indicate, hey, great passage, etc.)

The only difficulty, and maybe you can blog about this, was that I wasn’t well-prepared for incorporating conflicting feedback. I was de-railed for about 4-5 months in re-writing my novel as I tried to figure out what comments resonated with my vision and which ones I should toss out. Most of the group were very good writers, so I didn’t want to dismiss comments too casually.

By: The Procrastinating Writer

The Procrastinating Writer — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:03:54 +0000

@Jen Thanks for sharing your experience. I think writing groups are a great way to be accountable for getting writing done.

Another thought I had was creating a virtual writing group (where everyone shares through e-mail, returns comments that way and discussion takes place via instant message (such as Twitter).

By: Jen

Jen — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:56:30 +0000

I’ve been in something like that… a college creative writing class earlier this year. Fifteen weeks of hardcore writing and critiquing… oh, and a teacher that was determined to have us writing literary greatness. Talk about intense!

I loved the experience though. It truly did wonders for my writing… if for no other reason, because I was forced to write a lot, knowing that other people would actually read it. Up until then, I had a very hard time sharing unpolished work with anyone, thinking I should wait until it was presentable. Getting past that and sharing unfinished work with other writers was incredibly helpful. I’m writing more than ever now!

So yes. Writer’s groups are wonderful. Definitely recommend it… I’d love to get plugged into a regular group now that my class is over.