- Joined
- Aug 15, 2007
- Messages
- 549
- Reaction score
- 94
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- in my dreams...
- Website
- www.addiejking.wordpress.com
Karen, I'm in a similar boat, and I really don't know what to do, either.
I've been in a critique group for the last two years, and they've been very helpful. I couldn't have gotten better without them, and I know that they've helped me grow as a writer. But...
There are a couple of people in the group that have started to criticize grammar issues that I know for a fact are wrong. (I kinda tend to be the group grammar Nazi, without trying to....they're advocating for "said-bookisms" and all kinds of things that all of us should know better about). They've started arguing with me on whether I can mention name brands in a contemporary fantasy (um, I'm a lawyer. I went to a law school with a speciality in intellectual property, which includes trademark and copyright law. I know this stuff.) And now they've started ignoring critiques with the response that Tolkkien and Jordan have done it so it's okay for them to do it. I'm not saying I'm perfect, or that I'm better, but I've started to dread hearing them critique my stuff, and even dreading reading theirs.
I'm ready to pull out my hair. Or stab myself in the eyes with sharpened chopsticks.
I'm the only one submitting material professionally in the group right now. I've been reading their critique notes like you do...sometimes they do have a nugget of something that no one else has caught, so I hate to ignore their suggestions when they do spend considerable time reading and making notes, and the rest of the group doesn't make me as nuts as these members. I want feedback, but I don't want to spend my time for critique explaining case law and trademark issues, or pulling out Strunk and White all the time to defend myself.
On the other hand, the other members really do give insightful feedback.
So let me turn the question around and continue with the discussion...how do you know when it's time to find a new critique group and move on?
I've been in a critique group for the last two years, and they've been very helpful. I couldn't have gotten better without them, and I know that they've helped me grow as a writer. But...
There are a couple of people in the group that have started to criticize grammar issues that I know for a fact are wrong. (I kinda tend to be the group grammar Nazi, without trying to....they're advocating for "said-bookisms" and all kinds of things that all of us should know better about). They've started arguing with me on whether I can mention name brands in a contemporary fantasy (um, I'm a lawyer. I went to a law school with a speciality in intellectual property, which includes trademark and copyright law. I know this stuff.) And now they've started ignoring critiques with the response that Tolkkien and Jordan have done it so it's okay for them to do it. I'm not saying I'm perfect, or that I'm better, but I've started to dread hearing them critique my stuff, and even dreading reading theirs.
I'm ready to pull out my hair. Or stab myself in the eyes with sharpened chopsticks.
I'm the only one submitting material professionally in the group right now. I've been reading their critique notes like you do...sometimes they do have a nugget of something that no one else has caught, so I hate to ignore their suggestions when they do spend considerable time reading and making notes, and the rest of the group doesn't make me as nuts as these members. I want feedback, but I don't want to spend my time for critique explaining case law and trademark issues, or pulling out Strunk and White all the time to defend myself.
On the other hand, the other members really do give insightful feedback.
So let me turn the question around and continue with the discussion...how do you know when it's time to find a new critique group and move on?