Our long-established critique group has been critiquing via Zoom since the beginning of the pandemic, and created some guidelines along the way. (We meet weekly on Fridays except for holidays or occasional days when too many people need to miss. Since there are eight of us, only three can share each week, so we have a schedule of who is presenting and who is moderating on Google Drive.) Occasionally, we need reminders of our process* and I thought a summary might be helpful for other critique groups as well.
“Supporting each other in creating art takes so much trust.” – Kendra Levin, editor
(Guidelines help us trust each other.)
Before Friday:
- Manuscripts are due on Wednesday at the latest. (We email them out.)
- Respond to the manuscript sender with a simple “got it” type message when you receive it. Try not to reply all.
- Look at the schedule if you can’t remember who is presenting. If you don’t find a manuscript, contact the person whose manuscript is missing.
- If one of us can’t send the manuscript, offer up the spot early in the week in our message thread. (Our critique partners are really good at this!)
Zoom morning:
- While someone is critiquing, stay silent, especially the one being critiqued. No explanations, no excusing, no arguing.
- After everyone has critiqued a piece, the critiquee may ask questions or make comments.
- Additional comments or questions are welcome from everyone—other comments often inspire new thoughts. Remember to raise your hand and wait for the moderator to call on you.
- Side stories of what this reminded you of should be shared after all critique work is done.
Moderator duties include:
- How the meeting is run—I love how some in our group are good at asking how everyone is doing first.
- Deciding which manuscript goes first, and the order of critiquers.
- Keep us on task.
- Remind us that it is not our time to talk when appropriate. One member said in our recent discussion, “I think the hardest part of being the ‘boss’ for me is to cut people off if they are jumping in and not waiting to talk by raising their hand.”
- Before concluding meeting, discuss schedule for following week.
Critiquer duties:
- Honor others’ turns to talk.
- Share specific positives about a piece.
- Only make a suggestion once—don’t dwell on the topic—it is not our duty to convince the writer.
- Try to only share what you have that hasn’t been said—no need to offer the caveat that you’re doing this. (We know.)
- Consider making reaction comments on your copy of the manuscript during critique, such as I agree/disagree with so and so about this/that specific issues.
- Let the writer see the minor grammar and mechanical corrections on their copy—no need to share verbally. (We use track changes and Word’s commenting option on manuscripts and send them back once our Zoom meeting is over.)
None of us are perfect, so we still make mistakes, and fortunately are forgiving of each other. But it definitely helps when we remind ourselves of the process.
I couldn’t do without my critique partners. They make my work so much better with their suggestions. Kai Strand said, “I love how a story, or a character expands with the help of critique partners.” That is so true!
*I first wrote about this method here.
I was once again reminded how important a fresh look is on a manuscript. This week a writer friend asked me to look at a picture book manuscript that her agent had said was “too mean spirited.” It was a retelling of an old story–good guys against a bad guy–with a very modern twist. I thought it was hilarious. I’d seen several versions and really couldn’t see much to tone down. Then yesterday she showed it to a mutual critique partner who had not seen the story before. She pointed out areas that would soften the story. This third writer had fresh eyes and was so right in her suggestions.