by Gurmeet Mattu

Created on: September 02, 2008

Writing groups, whether online or local, are strange beasts and should be approached with caution by the novice writer.
The danger lies in the reaction your work gets from your fellow members. Often a critique or review from a fellow member is full of praise because that member is afraid that if they do not laud you, you are likely to give them a stinker in return. This helps no-one, and you should ensure that any reviewing process of your work is done anonymously.

The only thing a fellow novice writer is qualified to comment on is on their own reaction to a piece. An editor or publisher, on the other hand, looks at a piece of text from a commercial angle, to assess what value this piece brings to their organisation. These two points are not mutually exclusive, because your fellow novice writer is also a potential buyer of the editor's publication. But the commercial organisation must play a numbers game, how many readers will want to open their wallet to buy your piece. This is a factor that often doesn't occur to the writer, who may believe that something he has written has a value because it was assessed as well written by his writing group. This reasoning is flawed, because not all readers are writers, unless you plan on contributing to a writing magazine. The writer who writes without a target audience is missing an essential element in his toolkit. It is of no use to say that your writing is aimed at everybody. That is living in fantasy land. No publisher aims his magazine at everybody, they point it at select groups and those are who the writer should write for.

So what value does the writing group actually have? Having condemned undeserved praise above, it's only fair to say that it can give confidence which is an essential part of the writer's make-up. It also allows the writer to experiment with various genres and lengths of work till they find something they are comfortable with. But the most important part of the writing group is in reviewing others' work. By analysis of another's work the writer can learn much that will influence his own writing. Through deconstruction of a favourite piece the writer should discover just what it is that makes it work. This is much harder than finding the flaws in pieces you don't like. So, to that end the writer should be looking to do more reviewing than writing within the group, especially in the early days. Reviewing should be honest but thoughtful and a set formula should be used to assess all work so that no charge of favouritism can ever be levelled. A general statement of personal opinion should be followed by an analysis of the elements that go to make up a story. Don't be abusive, be constructive. If you don't understand what is going on in the tale, say so. It means that the writer has failed in their job, not that you are stupid.

The social side of the writer's group cannot be discounted. It is good to meet fellow writers, especially as the writing process itself is such a lonely one. But don't get involved in the internal politics. It is a sad fact of life that wherever a group of people get together they will split into factions. The fall-out from the combat between the historical romance fans and the police procedure mob might make a good story in itself. Go and write it.

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