By Pax Riddle

Too often I've heard fellow writers bemoan editors or "the market" for their failure to publish. "Do you belong to a critique group?" I ask. Too often, the answer is no.

From my experience, there are few writers who are so gifted that they can write in a vacuum. While it's fine to get feedback from lay readers, or even family members, there is no substitute for baring your work to the scrutiny of other seasoned writers. Is it sometimes painful? You bet. But it can also be exhilarating. There's no better compliment than one from another writer you respect. The greatest advantage of sharing your work with other writers is gaining new ideas, new insights into your work you never considered. Not to mention free line editing.

There are different types of critique groups. Some are eclectic: short stories, poetry, novels. Others may focus on one genre only, such as non-fiction or children's literature or romance. Find the one that best suits your needs and interests.

Here are eight tips to consider when shopping critique groups:

1. Group size can vary from three or four to twenty. A small group can work well if the members are seasoned writers. A large group can also work well since you will find a wide array of talent and genres to learn from, but it can mean a large amount of take-home work. Try various sized groups until you find the right one for you.

2. Do they welcome newcomers to the fold or do they seem a bit frosty? Some groups operate "by invitation only." It's best to find that out before showing up on meeting night.

3. Do they meet often enough to meet your writing needs? Some groups meet weekly, some bi-weekly, some monthly. You may feel weekly is a bit much or that monthly is too long between work sessions.

4. How does the group work? Some groups do a lot of "reading." That is, members read their work aloud to each other and then critique. There is a major flaw in this process. Some of us are good at public speaking and could make a comic book sound like a best seller. Others are nervous or read in a monotone that could make Steinbeck sound like a piker. Also, reading aloud takes up a great deal of group time, severely limiting the number of manuscripts that can be critiqued in an evening.

   In non-read-aloud groups, members hand out copies of their manuscripts. Everyone reads and marks them up at home, then brings them to the next session for an oral presentation. These oral critiques (usually limited to 5-10 minutes each) tend to hit the high points and verbalize general impressions and concerns about your work. After each critique, the critiquer hands back your marked-up manuscript so you can study it at home.

5. Though we try not to be thin-skinned, submitting work to a critique group can be ego-jarring. But it can also be inspiring when you receive boffo reviews. In any case, be prepared to discover that you are not always the literary genius (at least not yet) you thought you were. Some critiquers are more gracious, more adept at putting things in a positive light than others. Gracious or not, critique group etiquette requires that you listen to each critique in its entirety before asking questions. Debating or interrupting the critiquer only eats up someone else's critique time and frustrates everyone.

6. You will glean bubkus from a group that merely slaps one another on the back. The whole point of a critique group is honest feedback. This doesn't mean you should make every correction suggested. You may decide to ignore certain comments and act on others. No one knows your work and your style better than you. The key is to critique in a POSITIVE and SUPPORTIVE way.

   No group should tolerate a "literary bully." Over time you will learn whose comments to trust and whose to take with a grain of salt. I've seen some members try to incorporate every comment and suggestion made in their re-writes. The result is total banality. This is the most important thing to learn in a critique group, otherwise your writing could degrade rather than upgrade.

7. A caveat. All members are expected to do their share of the critiquing if they want to reap the benefits of the group. No one likes members who show up only when they have a manuscript to hand out or come to meetings unprepared to critique. Depending on group size and activity level, be prepared to sometimes go home with well over 100 pages to read in preparation for the next meeting.

8. What if you can't locate a nearby group to join? Start one. Post notices in bookstores, local newspapers and libraries. Join local writer's associations and network. Eventually, you'll find other orphaned writers looking for a group.

A good critique group can be better than any "book doctor" you could hire, and you'll submit squeaky-clean manuscripts to editors/agents, moving you to the head of the herd.

Pax Riddle's novel Lost River (www.lostriver.org) was published by Berkley Books (Penguin/Putnam) in May 1999. He has had short stories, book reviews and poetry published in The Licking River Review (the literary magazine of the Western Kentucky University), The Beaver Tail Journal, EWG Presents and Pulse (on-line magazines), News From Indian Country (a national Indian newspaper), the academic journal, Studies in American Indian Literatures, and Wild West, a national western history magazine. He is a member of the National Writer's Union and is a freelance copy editor for writers and for a consortium of 10 local newspapers. He may be reached at (203) 926-0041.