An Online Critiquing Primer
by
Carolyn LaFever
Are you a harried mother with children swinging from the chandeliers and babysitters refusing to set foot in your house? Or are you a busy career woman who’s always on the run and never knows when the next meeting will be scheduled? Are you living out in the sticks and the nearest writer is two hundred miles away? Or is the problem not being able to find anyone who wants to critique at three in the morning?
Online critiquing is definitely an option to your dilemma. Here are some pros and cons to consider.
* PROS:
In-depth critique - Your partner(s) have more time to spend on your work. They can
read through it once for enjoyment, then for overall problems, then for grammatical
errors. This gives you a much richer, more focused critique of your work.
Civilized - The critiquer has had more time to phrase her response to your work. You’re allowed to digest the critiques in privacy. This process can cause less pain than in “face to face” situations.
A true “reader” experience - Text-only forces your words to have total merit. You’re not there to interpret and explain. The focus is on your work, not on you as a person. The others in the group don’t influence anyone else’s assessment of your work.
Quick feedback - Unlike snail mail or monthly critique meetings, you can access your partners via email within the hour.
Greater flexibility - Anytime, anywhere, no commute, no dress code. You also can do half of the critique one day and the other half on the weekend.
Connections - You develop relationships all over the country and world. This helps with research, business connections, and learning how people in other parts of the world look at life and love.
* CONS:
Time consuming - Depending on what kind of online group you’re in, you need to
plan on spending some quality time with your partner(s) work. Reading, studying, and
writing comments takes a lot more time than sitting down with a group of writers for an
hour or two. Be prepared. Clarification - You’re not there to explain that obscure
quotation you noted on the critique. And your partner might interpret your joke as a
serious comment. It takes a while to know each other’s idiosyncrasies.
Patience - Finding and learning about your online critique buddies takes time. You may go through quite a few partners before finding the perfect fit. The more specific you are about what you’re looking for, the easier this process will be.
Socializing - Often online groups are more businesslike than “face-to-face”. Do you miss the cookies and coffee before the critique?
Brainstorming - There’s something about a group of writers getting together that causes the old creative juices to flow. Chat rooms can be an adequate substitute, but it still doesn’t quite match the “face-to-face” brainstorming sessions that happen when everyone’s sitting around the kitchen table.
If after reviewing the above, you’re still interested in exploring the new world of online critiquing, what do you do now?
1. Define what you’re looking for. Do you want one partner? Three? Or would you rather be part of a group of fifty and choose when you want to participate? Do you want to be with people who are writing the same kind of romance you are? Or would you rather have an historical, a paranormal, and a short contemporary to critique in one week? How much writing do you want to exchange? A scene, a chapter, a page count? And how often? Be honest and concise and you’ll save yourself a lot of heartache.
2. Find critique partners. Check with your RWA chapter first. Many online groups are sprouting up with the help of local chapters. If you’d rather have critique partners from all over the world, join RWA’s Outreach International Romance Writers chapter - they communicate by e-mail, fax and snail mail and might well have a spot in a critique group for you. Check your local libraries, bookstores and colleges for writers groups if you’re interested in critiquing with other genres like mystery and science fiction. Look into the services on your internet carrier. America Online and Prodigy both have extensive resources for writers. Hang around the message boards and chat rooms. Join writers links like RWALink and RW-L. Check out Write Links, Painted Rock and Critique Partners Connections. Keep your eyes and ears open and don’t be afraid to tell people you’re looking for critique partners.
3. Ground rules. Before you start, discuss your expectations with the group. Are you looking for line editing (commas, grammar, etc) or “big picture” ideas? When and how often will you critique? There are wide variations on this. Some groups send a specified amount every week, with clear deadlines. Others send monthly in large “chunks” of writing (a proposal or full manuscript). Some groups have mission statements, email newsletters, and chat rooms set up for weekly discussions. Others are a much more informal and fluid group of writers who bounce in and out of the group when they need help. Be sure that everyone in your online critique group is on the same page.
Don’t be afraid to explore the brave new world of online critiquing. New friends and great critiques are waiting for you out on the vast internet. Have fun and happy exploring!
Carolyn LaFever studied political science in college, and backpacked through Europe and the Orient. She's been a ski bum, a waitress, a bookkeeper, a loan processor and an accounting software trainer. Finally deciding that she couldn't ignore her real dream anymore, Carolyn started to write. A life-long reader of romance, she's written four books, two of which have been submitted to editors. The other two are being used as doorstops.
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