Start Your Own Writers' Critique Group

Pursuing a career as a writer can be lonely. Most of your day is spent cooped up in your office, pounding away at the keyboard until someone finally reminds you that it's time for dinner. But a solitary life isn't conducive to creativity, so writers must be willing to go looking for community, preferably outside of their friends and family. One way that you can build a community of writers is by starting your own Writers' Critique Group. Not only will this give you an opportunity for social networking, but it will also provide you with a sounding board for your work.

In order to start your own writers' critique group, you will need to answer certain questions about how the group will be run. If you will be the "Chairman" of the group, it is up to you to create a writers' group to which lots of writers want to belong. Before you start recruiting members, answer these questions:

--What type of writers will be welcome in the writers' critique group? (i.e. certain genres or types of writing)
--Where will the writers' critique group meet? (i.e. your house, the library, a local community college)
--When will the writers' critique group meet? (i.e. once a week, once a month)
--How will you find members for the writers' critique group? (i.e. flyers, word of mouth, a website)

Once you have determine the answers to those questions, it will be time to form the actual group. Most writers' critique groups are informal gatherings of fellow writers who read their work aloud or pass out copies of their latest works to be critiqued by the other members. You could have multiple readings/writings in one night or you could spotlight one member on a rotation for each meeting. Whatever the case, you'll need to decide how meetings will be held and who will preside over them.