We writers can be fairly reclusive folk. We write or type away at our stories, shoulders hunched and looking around every now and again for sign of human life. We shove our writing away in a drawer, or in a computer folder, gathering literal or metaphorical dust.We don't like to share our writing. Big news, everyone: if you want to get published, you kinda have to share your writing. Reading and writing are somewhat intertwined.
Which is where writer's groups come in. But...but...criticism! Yup. Relish it. Relish the feeling of those comments improving your writing tenfold. Constructive criticism is the most valuable thing in life. As well as love and all that.
I entered my first writing group only a few months ago, in about June. I cannot even explain how valuable they are, how much they enable you to grow and change as a writer. After all, there are only certain things you'll be able to pick up in your own writing...other writers will pick up all of them, or at least more than you ever will.
My writer's group (and new writing partner) have already taught me so much more about writing; about voice, showing and not telling, adverbs, character and pacing. It doesn't have to be a writer's group where you actually meet somewhere. Mine is online, through email and (yes) Facebook.
Plus, you know, you get to read stuff. For free.
A writer's group provides even more than tips and constructive criticism. They provide motivation, which is sometimes hard to come by. When you've got to submit your next chapter for critiquing the next day, you're going to work hard to get that chapter in. If you're by yourself, there's nobody to disappoint but you (and more on that in another post sometime).
Join a writer's group. Gain some constructive criticism. Take that criticism on board and think about it, even if you don't necessarily agree with it. Fix your writing and make it better.
You won't regret it...unless you have a terrible writer's group. But again, more on that in a later post.
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