Then one day, I received a community paper in the mail. It offered a variety of classes from yoga to learning Spanish to knitting sweaters. Right in the middle of this newsletter was a writing class--fiction writing with a followup class for critiquing our works in process. This would be a two hour class, once a week for six weeks. So I did a very brave thing and I signed up.
I learned a lot through this class. I learned various grammar rules (errors) I was making. I learned that some days the instructor was impressed with my work and other days he didn't like what I wrote at all. Some days I went home elated and other days I left completely crushed. But the biggest thing I learned was to share my work, to stand up in front of the class, and read my words to the other class members. My knees shook. My hands trembled. My voice cracked. But I did it. As cheesy as this class was, I found myself writing more than I had ever written before--we had weekly assignments along with working on my WIP to share with in the second hour. Slowly, I built my confidence, little by little.
I also met other writers. Some were at a much higher level of writing than I was, and then there were those who just struggled to write anything at all. We also had an older lady who was there just to be a joker (that's all I could figure). She drove me crazy and demanded way too much attention. For a stay-at-home mom, I loved this class. I needed this class. It helped me to remember how much I loved writing. I loved it, and yet, I hadn't been writing very much at all up to that point (three little kids tend to take up a whole lot of time).
After the six weeks were over, several of us writers wrote down our emails to be able to continue getting together and helping one another. I was SO excited. I couldn't wait to be emailed (one girl wrote down the list and said she'd email everyone else). Well, I never received an email. Did the others get together without me? Did they not like my writing? Maybe they never met. All I know, was that once again I was alone and it sucked.
The following winter, I found out that in my state there was a league of writers who met monthly. There was a chapter in my local area and so once again I got brave and went to the January meeting. I didn't know anyone there and they all looked like they knew each other.The funny thing, this meeting was all about finding a critique group. Once again, I was super excited.
It was at this meeting I met D.S. Actually, we had been in the same fiction writing class the previous spring, but since D.S. was too chicken (just kidding) to take the critique class the second hour, I never really got to know her. Anyway, when this meeting was over, I approached her and another lady who were discussing forming a critique group and asked if I could join. There was a moment in which I wasn't going to do it. I was just going to leave and say nothing.
But I'm so glad I did. That move changed my writing life. D.S. and I have been writing buddies for over a year and a half now. The other lady in our group slowly pulled away because it wasn't working out for her (those things happen).
So how did I meet Kacey? D.S. has a knack for finding other writers, but this story is kind of fun. D.S.'s husband managed a Mexican restaurant where Kacey and her family would come to dine. D.S's husband is a hoot. He's personable and fun loving. He and Kacey started chatting and somehow one thing led to another and he found out Kacey was a writer. Well, his wife was a writer! What were the odds? Amazing. He then gave her D.S's information and she contacted D.S.
D.S then introduced her to me. WA-LA--a critique group.
I can't stress enough how much writers need other writers. We need them. We really do. I wouldn't be where I'm at without theses fantastic people in my life to push me forward. I need that push. I need someone cracking the whip and refusing to accept anything less than my best. These ladies do that.
But, it's hard to get a critique group going. Like me in the beginning, I had no idea where to even go looking. Some of us live in rural areas. Some of us just are a bit afraid to ask someone to start a group. Others think they can do it on their own.
I can tell you right now, you can't do it on your own. You can't. And GREAT critique partners can not be overlooked or undervalued. You need them.
So here's my suggestion, if you are in need a critique partner or need some extra eyes to go over your work, leave a comment to this post saying so. Now, we here at Ready, Aim, Hook Me are super busy. The submissions coming in are in great numbers and we are getting to them as quickly as we can. So we can't possibly add anyone to our critique group. But, depending on the number of comments left, I will put together a page with all the contact information and put people into groups. This could be fun. (If there aren't very many comments, then guess what? You're a group!)
So leave your name, your genre (which may or may not come into play--you can learn from everyone) and your contact info, probably your email. Just do it like this: suzy[at] gmail[dot]com (that way you can avoid spam). If you don't feel comfortable leaving your email, then simply leave a link so that people can get a hold of you.
How does that sound? So leave your link and I'll contact you with your group info. I will also make a special page you can check at a later time as well (under the Pages tab). Hopefully, this works and you find it helpful.
