I'm sure you are wondering what I am doing here on a Thursday? Well, when the fabulous Jim Averbeck decided to talk about critique groups yesterday on WRITERLY WISDOM,
(http://donasdays.blogspot.com/2013/07/writerly-wisdom-jim-averbeck.html), I also received a request from the equally talented children's book author, Janee Trasler, to be able to do a follow up post on how to tailor make a critique group. How could I refuse? Instead of waiting until next week, I thought it would serve my readers better by posting it here today, so there you have it. Take it away Janee...
Tailor-made Critique Groups
by Janee Trasler
Like Jim Averbeck, I count myself lucky
to be a member of an excellent critique group. But don’t be fooled; it is by no
means dumb luck. What I have is a tailor-made, suits-me-to-a-T critique group.
Unlike Jim, I was not lucky enough to find my perfect group
on my first try. I had to shop around a bit before I knew exactly what I liked
and needed in a critique group.
Once I had the answers, I just needed to ask the questions.
Who did I want in
my group?
Some critique groups are made up of members who are at
varying levels in their writing education and careers. This can work out really
well. It gives the newer writers access to the more seasoned writers’
experience and gives the seasoned writers the chance to see how far they’ve
come and to give a little back.
Other groups are made up of members who are all at a similar
level, whether that be total newbie, almost published, or published. This type
allows the members to grow together and offers an equal level of confidence
across the board.
I knew I wanted a group of writers at a similar level, so I
chose to ask people who were all represented by the same literary agency but by
different agents. I figured this would keep it all in house and make the
sharing of information easier. At the same time, we would avoid any hurt
feelings if an agent spent more time with one writer than another.
I’ve been in groups that have writers from board books to
YA, and I’ve been in groups that stick to one genre. Both have merit and it is
strictly a matter of personal taste.
I know I am not equipped to comment on novels (and you can
only say, “Yup, I like it.” so often before your critique group also realizes
how little you know about writing novels), so I opted to ask writers who write
picture books/board books.
Where would we meet?
In-person groups allow for more socialization. You can bring
along a book you’ve found, break bread, and just get to hang with other
writers.
Online groups, which allow you to critique at your own
convenience, give you the opportunity to really study a submission before you comment.
They are easier to fit into a busy schedule and don’t require geographical
closeness to the other members.
I’m an online type of gal. I like to read a manuscript
several times before I comment, and I like to get feedback in writing. It makes
revising much easier for me.
How big?
Just how many members should you invite? This is an
important question because it dictates how much time you devote to critiques.
I prefer a smaller group, so I invited three other people.
Once all had been invited and inducted (Oh, you don’t even
want to know about the initiation ritual we all had to go through. Let’s just
same some of us look better in lampshades than others.), we still had a few
logistical questions to answer:
When would we meet and submit work?
This is heavily influenced by whether you meet in-person or
online.
I’ve been in critique groups where members just submitted
whenever they had something, and I’ve been in groups run like a military boot
camp. It’s up to you how often you meet or submit work, but I’ve found having a
set schedule helps me get work done.
As a group, we chose to have a designated member submit work
on the first four Tuesdays of each month. (I’m Third Tuesday Girl.) The other
three members have until the following Tuesday to send comments.
Life gets in the way sometimes, and we’ve been known to swap
a Tuesday here or there. We also try to remain flexible as to what you can
submit. If we don’t have a complete draft ready, we can submit what we have and
ask for brainstorming help. I’ve also been known to sneak in two board books
instead of one picture book.
How would we submit and critique work?
This is one area where I feel online groups have the
advantage over in-person. It’s so much easier to read and comment on
manuscripts online.
We send our work in MS Word format in my group and use the
comments feature to put our feedback right in the document.
After all these tough questions where answered, we found
ourselves right back to “Who?”
Who are we?
Tammi Sauer (
www.tammisauer.com)
Janee Trasler (www.trasler.com)
Jessica Young (www.jessicayoungbooks.wordpress.com).
Janee Trasler (www.trasler.com)
Jessica Young (www.jessicayoungbooks.wordpress.com).
We are the PBJeebies, and since we joined forces two and a
half years ago, we have collectively sold 18 books.
My critique group suits me to a T. It ought to; it was
tailor-made.
Janee Trasler is the author illustrator of eight books for kids, including the upcoming board book series for HarperCollins which kicks off in January, 2014 with BEDTIME FOR CHICKIES.
Website: www.trasler.com
Blogs: www.trasler.typepad.com
