by D. Raposa

Created on: November 18, 2008   Last Updated: March 23, 2010

In the Writers Circle - The Role of The Group

Any Writers Circle worth its salt is a collaboration between Author and Group. It is not a literary firing squad, where the author keeps silent while hearing the results of an arbitrary review process (for every negative review there must be at least two positives?), or is told what should be written in place of what has been written. Both sides must work together, with primary responsibility of guiding a good critique belonging to Group.

Group's role is to act as the reader - not editor, not publisher, not literary analyst. "Weaknesses" and "strengths" do not pertain to the discussion, as these terms are subjective and geared toward literary analysis, which is not Group's function. Grammatical and spelling matters do not pertain to the discussion, as these are easily dealt with in a simple reminder to the author to properly edit, which is not Group's function. Group's responsibility lies only with determining how well the story "works" when read.

Let the critiquing begin! It'll be easy since the main thing a reader really looks for in a story is believability (no matter how fanciful or outrageous the content). Here are some basic questions Group must ask in order to effectively critique a story:

* Is the tone consistent within chapters? Does language match mood? Are transitions smooth?

* Are the characters well-defined? Can you tell who's who? Do actions match personalities?

* Does the dialogue fit the time-period? Are proper accents and mannerisms being used?

* Is the pace comfortable? Is it bogged down in exposition? Is there too much dialogue?

* Does the ending work? Is it anti-climatic? Does it feel tacked on? Are all questions answered?

Be sure to include Author in the critique. Share what aspects work really well and perhaps could be continued throughout the piece. Hearing the thought process behind problem areas may lead to a complete revision of the critique as new information comes to light (maybe the story was supposed to be about firecrackers, but everyone thought it was about aliens!). Author knows what must be said; Group tries to help say it better.

Collaboration is the key to a successful Writers Circle. Author shares a story to workshop. Group provides constructive opinions about the piece, not tearing it to shreds in order to satisfy an imaginary "tough-love" review method. Both sides work together to bring about an effective critique.

Write On to that!

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