Critique Partners: Spotting them in the Wild

Now that I’ve made the case for having a critique partner (CP), you’re probably wondering how to go about finding one. The bad news is that finding the perfect CP is pretty much like finding the perfect mate. The good news is that, unlike spouses, lovers, or hairdressers, it’s totally cool to have more than one. I have several CPs. Some read every thing I write some only read when I’m writing in particular genres, some are new, some are old… there’s a lot of variety.

As with dating, finding a good CP means kissing a lot of toads. It’s rare to be a perfect match with the first person you meet. (Funny story, though: my first RWA chapter meeting was also the first meeting of one of my CPs. Since we were both looking for partners, we got set up. We exchanged work — the first chapter of category romance novels, and remained unenthused. I thought her hero was a stalker; she thought my heroine was a slut. That was it for us for several months, until we got together for dinner and started talking about our other projects. When we exchanged those chapters, we clicked instantly and a long-term relationship was born. That book of hers that made me fall in love with her writing is about to be published, by the way.)

So, where do you find CPs? Writers’ groups.

I’ve found MOST of my critique partners through RWA or through the boards at eHarlequin, where I used to be a regular. This means you need to join a writer’s group. Now, when I started writing, joining a writer’s group meant shelling out a bit of dough. If you’re broke, you’re SOL. Luckily, in this age of internet message boards and blogs, you can join a virtual writer’s group for free.

There are lots of writer’s boards like this. Romance Divas, Absolute Writer, the NaNoWriMo boards, the Verla Kay boards… and those are just places I’ve been. There are also a ton of special interest writing Yahoo loops populated with writers looking for first readers.

Most of these boards have threads set up specifically for those in search of critique partners. I’m not a big fan of these. When I first started out, I tried those threads and exchanged chapters with a couple of folks, but I really wasn’t feeling it. For me, it’s the CP equivalent of searching the personals ads. “SWM, late twenties, law student,” doesn’t give me enough information to know if the guy is Sailor Boy or some of the people in SB’s class who I totally wouldn’t date. I don’t know anything about them except that they need a date.

Here’s what I do suggest: these boards and groups foster a community, much like this blog. Once you start engaging in conversations with people, you will see who thinks like you about the craft, who may be at your level* of craft development, who you may click with. Once you have had a few exchanges with them and they seem like someone you want to hang out with, ask them if they want to swap a few chapters of their work with you. (Always start with a chapter or two. It’s the CP equivalent of a coffee date.)

Then, read their work. Give it an honest, fair, constructive critique. Even if you hate it. Even if it sux. (And yes, sometimes it will suck. Just as you have to kiss a few frogs, you’ll have to read a few excruciating chapters. Look on the bright side: now you know what slush piles look like!) By the end of the exchange, you’ll have a pretty good idea of whether or not this relationship will work for you.

What are the signs?

1. Decent craft level on their part. If the work is a mess, practically illiterate, to the point that you don’t feel you can offer much in the way of constructive criticism (the “where do I start” phenomenon), then this probably isn’t the right CP for you. You have a limited amount of time to devote to critiquing. You can’t give all of it to someone who hasn’t mastered the basics yet. This isn’t a bad thing. It just means they haven’t reached the point where they need a CP. They should probably look for a writing instructor (classes at local colleges, etc.). We’ll talk about this more during the WGAGB section of this series.

I had a few false starts with CPs when I was still looking on the “CP Personals” boards. By this time, I’d already finished a book, joined RWA, entered a few contests and gotten feedback from published writers, and was working full time as a journalist. I was working hard on my craft. But I kept going on coffee dates with people who’d cranked out a first chapter, unpolished, as a lark. After tying myself up in knots a few times trying to figure out how to give them a thoughtful critique, I realized that it was never going to work out. So I stopped posting on those boards, and started doing more targeted, intelligent searches for possible critique partners.

2. They send you work you like to read: You’re going to be reading a lot of it, so good or not, if it’s not your cuppa tea, you won’t have any fun doing it. This is similar to that personal taste factor that plays into decisions of editors and agents. “I just didn’t love it.” Now, I have worked on certain projects of my critique partners that I haven’t loved, but in general, I love their work. This is why it helps if you pick someone who either writes in the same genre as you, or writes in a genre you like to read. We’ll talk about this more in the WGAGB section of this series.

I had one CP that I liked heaps, and she was a good writer, too, but I wasn’t really feeling her genre, so I wasn’t much help to her. I hadn’t read in the genre, so I had no idea what was a cliche, and I wasn’t loving it. We’re still buddies, though, and she’s a totally awesome CP. This is the CP equivalent of the guy that’s not right for you, but you set him up with your friend and now they’re happily married with a house and a dog and the friend is expecting twins in the fall.

3. You get back a critique that helps you. This, of course, is the most valuable asset. The other two are about their stuff; this one is about yours. If they aren’t giving you anything that can improve your work, there is no point in working with them anymore. You’re wasting their time. This can go in two directions: either the crits regularly come back with, “This is marvelous, don’t change a word!” or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, with harmful or unhelpful advice. This second one is a bit harder to define, but can include things like: over-reliance on “rules” rather than specific advice about what is or what is not working in the story (Ex: “You can’t do BLANK in this genre,” rather than “BLANK isn’t working for me, perhaps it’s not motivated well enough?”), preponderance of bad writing advice (Ex: “‘was’ is passive”), overwriting of voice, or any other signal that the CP just doesn’t “Get it.” You want them to love and get your work, too.

This is probably the hardest issue to quantify. It’s partly a matter of ego. Who doesn’t want to be told that everything we write is stupendous and shouldn’t be messed with. Clearly, our CP is just a fine arbiter of taste, right? And on the other end of the spectrum, it’s easy to write off any CP giving us the tough love as someone who just doesn’t “get” our work. But you have to be honest with yourself. I’m lucky enough to have CPs who are brilliant and talented and yes, there are times when I’ve said, “don’t change a word, this is perfect.” But that’s rare. Because I’m a tough bitch. 🙂

And I’ve also had the CP that threw “rules” in my face. I dropped that chick like a hot penny. Maybe it’s true that I can’t do BLANK in whatever genre I’m writing, but saying that isn’t going to make me better. Remember that CP who called my heroine a slut? Guess what? The next book I gave her, the one she adored, had a much sluttier heroine. The book opens with her returning, hungover, from a one night stand with a man whose name she can’t remember. But did the CP call me on that one? No, because there, the heroine’s actions were well-motivated. The CP never said, “you can’t have a slut in a category romance.” She said, “your character’s behavior doesn’t make sense and it’s not working for me.” The chick in the next book’s much more shocking behavior worked just fine.

4. There is balance in your expectations. Whether this means the type of critiques you exchange, the turnaround time, or the amount of work you have to do, make sure that you know what the other person’s expectations are and you agree. Note: this does not mean keep a page count tally. Marley is a much faster writer than I am, and C.L. writes 1,000 page fantasy epics to my 80k chick lits. But we’re each invested in our CP’s work and we don’t ask more of them than they can handle.

Long ago, I had a CP who was very talented and had a ton of new ideas. She also had a lot of time to write, and wrote very fast. She’d sometimes send me three chapters a day. And she was always starting new projects and then abandoning them. I’d get three chapters of Book A, and then the next day, three chapters of Book B, and then Book C, and then Book A again from a different starting point in a different POV, and, wow, she just got a thrilling idea for Book D while she was out grocery shopping and just had to dash 20 pages off and could I read it? All in the space of a week. Eventually, I had to lay down some ground rules, or I’d never get my own work done. In addition, I grew to resent the idea that I’d spend time and effort critiquing a work that she’d then abandon for the next shiny new project. (I also suspected that maybe as soon as she received any criticism about the project, rather than putting the time in working on it, she’d just move on. This suspicion was borne out when she got revision letters from editors and never reworked the manuscript to resubmit.) It wasn’t fair to me, and eventually, the relationship ended.

Wash, rinse, and repeat, until you find the perfect CP. The one whose work you love to help make better, who is brilliant at making your work better, and who is a perfect candidate for a long-term professional relationship.

I’ve had a lot of CPs over the years. Some have remained friends, even if we didn’t work out as CPs. Expect to dump a few and get dumped yourself a couple of times.

Here’s a story of how I met one of my new CPs: Last spring, I was on one of these groups practicing hooks, and I met a writer who seemed really fun and talented. She’d just gotten a request from an agent for her latest WIP, and was looking for someone to read the partial before she sent it off. I volunteered, read the partial (which was very good), and gave suggestions. We met a few weeks later at RWA Nationals, and she was just as lovely and fun in person. In fact, she ended up joining my RWA chapter after we “adopted” her at the conference. When NaNo rolled around, we emailed each other regularly about our new projects, and decided to exchange chapters in December. We’re each about a hundred or so pages (I think she’s beating me, actually) into our new books. Her new book? Wooooooowwwww, good.

And now, I’d better get back to working on my CP’s new manuscripts (they’re probably all like, get off the blog and WOOOOOOORK!) before they get frustrated with my long turn-around times and *I* get dumped. We’ll talk more about working with your CP next week.

But first, this week’s winner of the Book Pimp Giveaway:

STEPHANIE JANULIS

Please email me with your choice of book from the Giveaway, and your address. And may your new crit group with Jessica be going swimmingly.