© 2018 Michelle Shafer

I’ve spent the last seven years writing a fantasy trilogy. Though not published yet, my work has been read and reviewed by talented writers from two different critique groups. Currently, my group consists of four poets. Together they edit and fine-tune my stories and provide the structural and line editing required before I attempt to market a project.

How To Get Started
If you are not in a critique group, join one. I made my first contact by roaming a local library book festival and interviewing one of the authors. She was looking for a writers group as well. We encountered other writers and began to meet. When that group dissolved, I found a new group in my neighborhood and asked if I could join.

Another way to connect is to research local writing clubs, peruse MeetUp, and check your library for information about existing book clubs and writers groups. The American Christian Fiction Writers Association (ACFW) has local chapters offering a doorway to connect with other writers. Ask around, be brave, and start or join a group.

Scheduling Group Time
We meet every other week for two hours. As a novelist, I submit one or two chapters per session. The group takes my work home for review to be discussed the following time. One- or two-page pieces can be read on the spot.

The Joys and Benefits
The joy is meeting with other writers who become your friends and offer a safe place for critique, learning, and laughter. Within that fellowship, group problem solving and assistance in fine-tuning sentences is encouragement to keep rewriting. Another joy comes when you nail your chapter and walk away from the group with few comments, knowing your friends enjoyed the story.

The benefit of a critique group is that members study the structure and framework of a story. Don’t worry if genres vary throughout the group. The best critiques may come from writers who don’t write in your genre. The poets in my group question aspects of the plot I haven’t considered. Writers with different interests critique my work, and that input makes my story more multi-faceted, appealing to a broader audience. After the structural edit, a line edit is needed.

Thanks to other writers, you will be able to fine-tune your work by fixing spelling, grammar, and punctuation problems.
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Michelle Shafer lives in Memphis, TN, is the mother of two boys, and is writing a fantasy trilogy. All three novels are in the editing process. Michelle is a member of ACFW and has published a one-week, post-advent devotional called Light of the World. If you would like a FREE digital copy of the devotional, join the Light of the World Devotional FB group.