Starting a Critique Group?

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  • #76474
    Jenna Terese
    @jenwriter17
      • Rank: Chosen One
      • Total Posts: 2522

      There’s been this idea floating around in my head for a while now; an online critique group for Christian writers. Not exclusively for teens, but that’d be cool 🙂

      I’ve never researched starting a critique group before, so do any of you have any tips or advice or resources you can point me to?

      I was thinking of limiting the number of members, so that it would be more of a close-knit community. Just sticking with requesting critiquing on KP did cross my mind, but I wanted other writers outside of KP and SE to be able to join a Christian critique group. What do you think? How many members do you think would be a good number?


      @seekjustice
      @rochellaine @alia @ariel-ashira @catwing @daughteroftheking @valtmy @devastate-lasting @dekreel @dragon-snapper @kaya-young

      I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
      www.jennaterese.com

      #76476
      Linyang Zhang
      @devastate-lasting
        • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
        • Total Posts: 1700

        I think that maybe 10-15 people? Starting a critique group is a good idea. I’ve never done a critique group before, so I can’t really give you any advice. Sorry. Good luck, though!

        Lately, it's been on my brain
        Would you mind letting me know
        If hours don't turn into days

        #76477
        Alia
        @alia
          • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
          • Total Posts: 1253

          @jenwriter17, I agree with @devastate-lasting, though maybe 10-20. Really it depends on how many people you can add and still have it close knit.

          (I would love to be a part of this, and I might know some others who would be interested)

          WIP - Decisions
          Kapeefer til we're old and grey

          #76478
          Jenna Terese
          @jenwriter17
            • Rank: Chosen One
            • Total Posts: 2522

            @devastate-lasting Thank you! 🙂


            @alia
            Okay, I’ll have to keep those numbers in mind.

            Awesome. I might start collecting emails via my website at some point for people that want to be in it. 🙂

            I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
            www.jennaterese.com

            #76479
            Alia
            @alia
              • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
              • Total Posts: 1253

              @jenwriter17, sounds good

              WIP - Decisions
              Kapeefer til we're old and grey

              #76531
              Kaya Young
              @kaya-young
                • Rank: Loyal Sidekick
                • Total Posts: 272

                @jenwriter17 This is a great idea! 🙂

                I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner, but I should be around the Kingdom a bit more now that school has started.

                The Kingdom has been torn asunder...
                http://www.encircledbygrace.com/

                #76532
                Jenna Terese
                @jenwriter17
                  • Rank: Chosen One
                  • Total Posts: 2522

                  @kaya-young I’m glad you think so! 😀

                  We look forward to seeing you around. 😉

                  I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
                  www.jennaterese.com

                  #76613
                  NC Stokes
                  @daughteroftheking
                    • Rank: Eccentric Mentor
                    • Total Posts: 1156

                    @jenwriter17 I’ve never been part of a critique group, so I don’t have any advice, but I’d be interested in joining if you’ve got room for me. 🙂

                    Blog: https://weridasusual.home.blog/

                    #76616
                    Jenna Terese
                    @jenwriter17
                      • Rank: Chosen One
                      • Total Posts: 2522

                      @daughteroftheking I’m sure we’d have room. 😉 I’m still working out the details, so I don’t know how long it will take to officially open the group, but everyone on KP will be the first to know. 🙂

                      I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
                      www.jennaterese.com

                      #76806
                      SeekJustice
                      @seekjustice
                        • Rank: Chosen One
                        • Total Posts: 3365

                        @jenwriter17

                        Sorry Jen that I never got back to you (happy birthday by the way)

                        I think the numbers already posted are a good fit. It needs to be small, but there obviously needs to be enough people to give a variety of criticism. As to actually making it, I’m not really sure. I would suggest looking into something like Google hangouts (though I’ve never used that) and then making a certain day of the week that we meet (keeping in mind those pesky time zones of course). I think the way that in person critique groups work is that someone each week presents a piece of writing and then every one else offers a few thoughts on how to improve it. That would be a good motivation for keeping the group under ten-fifteen though, so we all get a turn to have our writing critiqued. Of course, you do get to learn a lot from critiquing other people though.

                        So I would suggest getting those who are interested, proposing a time and date and then working out some sort of roster and maybe making a limit on the excerpt the person is allowed to present, simply for time constraints (say, the excerpt has to be under 500 words or something).

                        Does that make sense? What do you think?

                        INFP Queen of the Kingdom commander of an army of origami cranes and a sabre from Babylon.

                        #76818
                        Jenna Terese
                        @jenwriter17
                          • Rank: Chosen One
                          • Total Posts: 2522

                          @seekjustice thank you 🙂

                          Yes this makes sense. I’m not super familiar with Google Hangouts, so I’ll have to research that a bit more. I had been considering making a full website for it with forums and everything, but Hangouts sounds like a good idea. How would you share a document in hangouts so everyone could read it? And what do you think about Google+ too?

                          I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
                          www.jennaterese.com

                          #76858
                          Rochellaine
                          @rochellaine
                            • Rank: Chosen One
                            • Total Posts: 3322

                            @jenwriter17 Hey, I saw this topic and realized I never replied to it. 😮

                            Are you still planning on doing this?

                            "Sylvester - Sylvester!"

                            #76874
                            Jenna Terese
                            @jenwriter17
                              • Rank: Chosen One
                              • Total Posts: 2522

                              @rochellaine I sure am! 😉 I’m not sure when exactly the group would be formed though. I’m still researching how critique groups are run, how online groups meets, familiarizing myself with Google hangouts, etc. Did you have any advice?

                              I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
                              www.jennaterese.com

                              #76876
                              Rochellaine
                              @rochellaine
                                • Rank: Chosen One
                                • Total Posts: 3322

                                @jenwriter17 Cool.

                                Nope, no advice.  I’ve been looking over the plans you and others have suggested on this thread and thinking that if I ended up joining it’d be sink or swim for me, with a leaning toward sink. 😛  I am so inconsistent in my work!  Basically I mean, if I was able to keep up it would be just what I need to be consistent in my writing, but there’s a big “if” there. 😉

                                "Sylvester - Sylvester!"

                                #76886
                                Jenna Terese
                                @jenwriter17
                                  • Rank: Chosen One
                                  • Total Posts: 2522

                                  @rochellaine Well, when/if we get the group started, we’ll always have a spot for you if you choose to join. 😉 <3

                                  I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
                                  www.jennaterese.com

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