Critique Group Mysteries Unraveled

At Inspire Christian Writers, we are blessed to have a community whose goal is to encourage and equip other writers for the Kingdom of God. This idea is even in our name as we hope to provide inspiration and knowledge to take the message of God’s love to the world.

One of the ways we do this is by offering our members the opportunity to be part of a critique group. If you’ve never had any experience with critique groups, it might be a bit daunting to think about having someone else look at your work or to consider giving feedback on someone else’s work. It might also be overwhelming to think about leading a critique group.

With those thoughts in mind, I interviewed our critique group leaders about what it was like to lead and be part of a group. I hope their answers encourage, edify, and engage you.

There are six critique group leaders. They are Don Towles, Robynne Miller, Terrie Brown, Libby Taylor-Worden, Dina Preuss, and myself. The groups range from beginner to intermediate/advanced while dealing with multiple genres and audiences. For each of these people, the desire is the same: encourage and equip. All writers, including the critique group leaders, started as beginners and chose to trust and share their work with another person to grow in the craft of writing.

With the information here, we hope this will motivate you to explore the world of critique groups we offer.


Q1 How long have you been part of an Inspire critique group?

Don-since 2010

Robynne-since 2014

Terrie-about four years

Libby-since 2013

Dina-over ten years

Susan-for nine years

Q2-What drew you to participate in the first critique group?

Don, Robynne, Susan-a friend invited me

Libby-Following a Mount Hermon conference I attended, I took the suggestions to get into a critique group. I had met some people from Inspire and followed their advice to “Just attend a couple of times and see if you like it.”

Q3-Before you became a critique group leader, what benefits did you experience while a participant?

Robynne-I met some of my dearest friends, became a much better writer, was encouraged to follow God’s call on my life, had a safe place to express fears, hopes, and to be prayed with and over, and I learned of opportunities in the writing world (workshops, resources, conferences, contests, etc.).

Libby-At first I didn’t know how to ‘critique.’ I thought it was editing or something that I didn’t feel I was qualified to do. But the more I listened, the more I learned how to critique … and, as a result, the more I learned about how to write.

Dina-Benefits for me included (but weren’t limited to) friendship, writing accountability, inspiration, guidance in how to write, and a sense of belonging.

Susan-Being a participant stretched me in ways I could not have imagined. I learned things I didn’t know I didn’t know. I grew immensely by critiquing the work of others which helped me see the problems in my work. I was introduced to different genres of writing that I’d never considered before.

Q4-How much time does it usually take to critique someone else’s work?

Don-I spend about 30 minutes on each submission, sometimes longer. Then I reread my critiques on another day and add to them.

Terrie-Not long at all. I usually reserve an hour to an hour and a half for each meeting to critique the manuscripts submitted. Sometimes I’ll leave them after critiquing and come back for another quick critique, but that usually only takes a half-hour.

Libby-That depends on the length and what it is. I’d say 20-40 minutes for a devotional, 10-30 minutes for a poem, and 30-60 minutes for 1500 words of fiction or non-fiction.

Susan-It takes about an hour to go through the submissions the first time. I like to go back over them again later to make sure I didn’t miss anything, but the second time it only takes about half-hour.

Q5-The goal of critique groups is to give constructive feedback to other writers, but how has this impacted your writing?

Don-My writing has improved greatly through receiving critiques from other writers.

Robynne-One of the biggest things I’ve learned in being in a critique group is how valuable critiquing OTHERS is. It puts writing skills into a part of your brain that other ways of learning don’t. The result is that as you critique others, your writing improves dramatically.

Terrie-The critiques, as well as the critiquing, have improved my writing. I’ve learned techniques and other writing styles that have helped me in my genre as well. We learn so much from each other, and we ask questions in the group too, so we are always learning from each other. It is definitely an “iron sharpens iron” reality.

Libby-I would categorize my work as Women’s Fiction, yet my critique partners are one man and one non-fiction writer. So, I get especially valuable feedback in that they look at my work from a very different perspective. They may not be as engaged in the story, but they can tell what a good page-turner looks like.

Dina-The progress has been tremendous. I’ve learned about concepts to implement in my writing that I didn’t even know existed. Once I learned to implement them, my writing gained more depth and strength.

Susan-As I’ve heard or read what different writers have said about my or someone else’s submission, I have learned what needs to be tightened or strengthened in my work. being able to look at someone else’s work opens my eyes to what might be weak in my writing which has informed and transformed how I write.

Q6-Why did you step up to become a critique group leader?

Don-I want to help newer writers experience the growth I received.

Robynne-Our critique group leader needed to step down. Leading is really just facilitating … organizing things a little. It’s not teaching. So, it’s easy and needs no prior experience.

Terrie-We needed an online group, and I had already been using Zoom at that time, so I volunteered.

Libby-I wanted to be in a face-to-face critique group and there were none available. I knew I wasn’t a leader in the sense of teaching quality writing skills, but that was not the role of a facilitator/leader.

Dina-I learned we needed more critique groups, and since I saw the enormous benefit in my writing, I thought having more groups would help other struggling writers as well.

Susan-I know the power of a good critique group. When I found out about the need, I felt I wanted to volunteer so I could give the kind of help I had received.

Q7-If someone is considering joining a critique group, what is one thing you believe is important for this person to understand?

Don-All critiques are just suggestions.

Robynne-You can’t help but be changed by joining a critique group.

Terrie-Submit work that is not still “your baby”—work that you want to see improved and tested. Critiques are not edits.

Libby-Don’t be intimidated by others who have been in groups for a while. The only way to learn to critique is to join a group and begin.

Dina-You have to critique the work of the other members of your group. It’s a commitment.

Susan-The payoff to this commitment is exponentially greater than the output.

Q8-Would you recommend joining a critique group? If so, why?

Terrie-Absolutely! It is an amazing gift you give and that you get from your group. Invaluable!

Dina-Only if you’re open to feedback. Only if you commit to doing the work of critiquing others. If you can do that, you’ll have a wonderful experience! And you’ll grow as a writer.

Susan-Definitely! It is a wonderful way to make writer friends who speak your language and understand you like no one but writers can. It is an excellent way to learn the give-and-take of the writer’s world. Also, it is a safe place to learn, develop, stretch, and share in the ministry of bringing God’s message to the world around us.


As you can see, being in a critique group is a far-reaching benefit. But there’s only one way to find out if this type of interaction is right for you. If you have any questions or are interested in contacting me about a critique group, follow this link on the Inspire website. https://www.inspirewriters.com/membership/plug-into-a-critique-group/

This will get your query to me, Susan Sage. I am the director of critique groups and PR at Inspire and would love to converse with you.

My thanks to the group leaders for sharing these insights.


 

About Susan Sage 6 Articles
Susan Sage is a writer, teacher, speaker, mentor, and Critique Group Director for Inspire Christian Writers. Susan writes devotionals and flash fiction and has been published in two Inspire anthologies. She was the mentoring editor for several past Inspire anthologies as well. She has recently completed her first novel. Susan and her husband make their home in Rathdrum, ID, after moving from Northern California in 2017. They enjoy visiting the lakes in the area and adventuring along many hiking trails.

4 Comments

  1. Thank you for this detailed description of ICW critique groups, Susan. Very often when we read interviews of published authors or publishing agents, the value of critique or workshop groups for writers will be mentioned. This is a wonderful resource, and you have been doing a stellar job.

  2. Susan, I’ve recently joined my Inspire critique writing group. I spent years paying others to critique my work. They made suggestions, but I missed the opportunity to learn from other writers. In my critique writing group, I have not only improved my writing but have been given the opportunity to meet a great, gifted group of writers.

  3. Yeah, Janet! Thank you for sharing this. I’m so glad you’ve found a critique group that feeds your heart, soul, and mind. I know your critique group is happy you’re with them as well. 😉

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