Here's a teaser:
"A writers' group is a great way to feel like a writer without actually writing," my friend David Hoffman-Dachelet said at a panel we shared on critique groups a few years ago. At the time I was a member of a number of different groups, all of which I felt were working for me in different ways, but I found myself nodding my head in agreement. There is something seductive about the critique process. "Workshopping" feels very "writerly." You can tell yourself that thinking about the writing process is the same as practicing the craft. It's extremely easy to eat up the precious hours you carved out of your busy life composing detailed responses to other people's writing—not to mention all the time spent just reading the manuscripts! All the while, your great American novel gathers dust and sprouts red rot.
Yet I'd never give up my writers' groups. Never.
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Also, from our own archive:
Writers Groups
Tate on the Wyrdsmiths and the utility of writers groups.
Kelly on the Wyrdsmiths and on rules for writers groups. Or; how to build your own.
Kelly on the many things a group can do for a writer besides the basic critique. This riffs off a post by Jay Lake and links back to it.
Tate on writers groups and getting her start.
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