3 Things To Look For In a Critique Community

by Gabriela Pereira published in Community

This week at DIY MFA we are working on something new and exciting: we’re creating a DIY MFA writing community.  The plan is to use the DIY MFA Facebook page to create a forum where writers (that’s you!) can give and receive feedback to each other.  We’re still working out the details so stay tuned for more information throughout the week.  In the meantime, I thought I’d use this idea of a critique community as a springboard for this week’s topic: Building a Writing Community.  Today, I’m especially interested in hearing what you look for in a critique community and I’ll share some thoughts of my own.

I’ve participated in many writing communities, both online and off.  Online I’ve logged into discussion forums (like the Absolute Write Water Cooler or the Verla Kay Chat Board) and communities like SheWrites.com.  In person, I’ve participated in workshops and courses (both through my MFA program and outside of it) and I founded a writing group that has been going for over 5 years.  I also have a group of writer friends that gets together weekly for Write Nite.  We get together in a cafe and write, using the peer pressure of seeing each other at work to motivate ourselves.

Each of these communities provides different benefits and advantages.  Over the years I’ve discovered what kinds of communities work best for me and here are three important things I look for when joining a critique community.

3 Things To Look For in a Critique Community

1) More Give than Take. 

A critique community works best when everyone in it gives more than they take.  Generosity lifts up the community as a whole and if everyone gives more than they take, then everyone in the community ends up getting more out of it all the way around and everyone ends up benefiting.  In terms of a writing community, this means focusing on giving feedback and supporting your fellow writers.  On the other hand, I’ve been in workshops where one or more writers took more than they gave back, and ultimately it put a strain on the entire group.

The truth is, even when you’re not getting feedback on your own work, you’re still learning techniques that you can apply to your writing.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve given another writer feedback only to discover that I needed to be following that very same advice.  Giving critique to other writers often gives me insight and helps me solve problems I’m struggling with in my own writing.

2) Constructive, Not Competitive. 

When I consider joining a workshop or writing community, I look for ones that have a constructive tone and not a competitive attitude.  I want a community that helps me improve my work, not a group of people that’s bent on tearing it down.  I’ve never been a fan of the philosophy: “bringing writers down to build them up again,” a mindset that’s prevalent in so many workshops, particularly in MFA programs. While it’s good to know what isn’t working in my writing (so I can fix the problems), it’s also important to understand what does work so I can do it again.

Ultimately, the only writer I want to compare myself to or compete with is… myself.  Some workshops and communities consist of writers who bring other writers down in order to pump themselves up.  These situations are toxic.  They suck the life and creativity out of my work, and the minute I identify a community as such, I make for the door.  Fast.

3) Honesty and “Tough Love.”

Although I always look for communities where the attitude is constructive rather than competitive, it doesn’t mean that all I want to hear is glowing praise about my writing.  Some of the best feedback I’ve ever gotten on my work has been the hardest to hear.  Even so, because I knew this feedback was coming from a place of honesty and that my colleagues wanted to help me improve my work, I knew I could trust what they had to say.

For instance, some time ago I got feedback from trusted colleagues that I needed to overhaul the central concept of an entire work-in-progress (WIP).  Was it terrifying to hear that?  Of course.  Did I enjoy getting that feedback?  Um, no.  In fact, it took some time to digest the comments and figure out what to do next.  Once I made a few key changes though, the project in question became much stronger than before.  It was clear that this feedback was exactly what I needed to hear.  If my colleagues had sugar-coated their input, I would have never made those changes that ultimately improved my project one thousand percent.

Now you tell me: What do YOU look for in a writing community?

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  • http://cbiclubhouse.com Jon Bard

    For me, it’s about attitude. If a community is infused with positive energy from members who have the right perspective on perseverance, learning their craft and embracing changes in publishing, rather than running from them, it will be a tremendous resource for all involved.

    OTOH, just a handful of members who are concerned mostly with airing grievances, complaining about the state of the world and generally being miserable can quickly poison the well.

    So it’s vital that there be a leader to keep things moving in a positive direction and keep the lid on negativity.

    The bottom line is this — would you hang around these people in real life? I, for one, run far away from negative people, gossips and complainers. They simply sap my creative will. And I have as little tolerance for them online as I do in the physical world.

    Good luck with your Facebook community — can’t wait to see how it develops!

  • Gabriela

    So true! The IRL (in real life) test is a great way to evaluate a community. Personally, I want colleagues and writing partners in my life, not creative-energy vampires. And that goes for online and offline relationships.

    Your comment about leadership is right on! I was in this one workshop where the teacher did nothing to curb the competitive negative energy of a few writers in the group. I ended up so discouraged by whole experience that at the end of the term that I stopped writing fiction. It was several years before I got up the nerve to try again. An encouraging and collaborative tone is so important in any community but I think it’s especially critical whenever creativity is involved.

  • http://cochisewriters.wordpress.com Ross Lampert

    Right on target, Gabriela. I’d add one other thing: a group that works the way I need it to. What do I mean by that? Example: I left a group in which the members just brought work in and read it out loud. The rest of the group tried to read, listen, and analyze all at once, then provide flash critique. I couldn’t work that way. I didn’t feel I was giving the best I could, or that the feedback I was getting was all that useful, so a founded a new group. We pass out our work electronically between meetings, take the time to read it at home, then come to the meeting ready to discuss it, using the three principles you describe above. MUCH better. And the long-time members aren’t just better writers for it, we’ve become friends, too.

  • Gabriela

    Great point! I’ve actually done workshops of both styles that you mentioned and I find that you get different styles of feedback too. The first one where you read aloud, I find that the feedback is more immediate and that people giving critique don’t have time to over-think their comments. On the other hand, taking the work home and having time to read it in depth often provides deeper insights and more meaty discussion. Ultimately, it depends on the dynamic of the group. Excellent point.

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  • http://www.mytwoblessings.com Robin McCormack

    Excellent post and Jon and Ross make excellent points. Just finished a critiquing class on Savvy Authors and learned much from it. I have a tendency to proof read, plus tell folks how to fix something since spent 25 some odd years as a administrative assistant. So I learned how to critique as well as receive critiques.

    I look for positive energy, folks who are willing to learn like me and willing to accept honest feedback. I need feedback, not just “oh it looks great.” That doesn’t do me any good. I think we all need to hear what works as well as what doesn’t work.