2020 countdown – readers’ favorite posts, day 4

 Continuing the countdown of top posts for 2020, here’s: 

Never write alone – there’s a critique group for that! 

Has anybody else ever been in this situation? I found an adorable premise for a story – actually, stole it, but that’s a tale for later – only to have critique partners shoot it down. And thank dog they did! 

It seemed so lovely. My fingers flew over the keyboard until the workshop members at the Writers Guild of Texas said, in the politest possible way, really? Would anybody in the character’s situation think like that? Part of the problem, I realized, was that the style wasn’t a good fit for me. The rest of the problem was that my eyes willingly overlooked whatever I didn’t want to see. Hello, rewrite. And a much happier me with the resulting version. 

But what would have happened without those other sets of eyes on my story? And how can a writer find those other eyes and voices in a time when writing workshops probably aren’t included in our states’ list of “essential” activities? 

If there’s a bright side to a global pandemic, it’s the plethora of online activities it’s given rise to. Once, writers in places without in-person workshops were isolated from their peers. Now those peers are little more than a click away. 

I live in North Texas, home to WORD (Writing Organizations ’Round Dallas) whose site includes a map of member groups, including those with critique and discussion groups. You’ll need to contact groups that catch your attention, because not all websites have been updated to show which offer online activities. But for those that do, distance is no problem. 

I’ve even joined another critique group since first writing this post, at the DFW Writers Workshop. 

Image: Pixabay

Or maybe you’ve decided your writing skills could use a brush up during this time of sheltering at home, but cost, distance, or safety prohibit in-person classes. Hello, internet again. Besides WORD’s interactive map, check out the likes of Writing Workshops Dallas, a brainchild of multi-published short story author Blake Kimzey, for its online offerings. And don’t overlook the Writers’ League of Texas for ongoing, online classes. 

Yes, I am partial to Texas events, but again, with the internet, residence is not an issue. Writer’s Digest, for instance, offers its own school of online courses, as does The Write Life (which also helps with finding critique partners). There are also many other online courses listings that I haven’t had an opportunity to vet but would welcome reader feedback on.