Special Event - Savvy Critique Group Program

Writing Life Special Event - Savvy Critique Group Program

Overview Reviews (10) Instructor reviews
New this year at SavvyAuthors!
  1. New!!
Level
Intermediate
Basic and Premium Members Prices
Basic $40 (Cost of a New Premium Membership)
Premium Members: Free
Category
  1. Critique
Ever wish you had someone to bounce ideas off of? Do you need someone to provide helpful suggestions and feedback for your writing projects? You've come to the right place! SavvyAuthors is presenting our all new program of critique groups!

Why Critique Groups?
When you talk about your book with your spouse/family/friends/etc., do their eyes glaze over? If not, you're one of the lucky ones! Many writers find their support systems lacking when it comes to the ability to have conversations about their books. Critique groups can fill that void by putting you in contact with other writers who are looking for the same thing; not just a critique, but also the camaraderie that comes with being with like-minded people.

Critiques are an important step forward in professionalism but to be truly effective, groups should be composed of people who want to become close friends. You're sharing your writing with these people, words that are close to your heart. Finding that right critique group can put you in touch with the best friends of your lifetime, and hopefully, a critique partner you can grow with over the years.

While you may not find your BWFF (best writer friend forever) at SavvyAuthors, we want to help you start that journey. We hope you join us and try out our Critique program!

About Savvy Critique Groups
SavvyAuthors is excited to bring to you an awesome new Crit Group forum, where each group will be able to trade pages, chat, post photos, and stay engaged. Savvy will provide an introduction of critiquing, including what to look for during a critique and what to ignore. We will also discuss how to critique in a way that's positive and helpful. Note: SavvyAuthors will not tolerate any attacks on authors, any purposely hurtful comments, trolls, etc. SavvyAuthors reserves the right to remove people from the program.

Who Should Attend
This event is for writers in intermediate stages looking to form lasting critique relationships with a group of special someones. A short questionnaire will be sent to you upon registration, giving SavvyAdmin an idea of where to place you.

Deadlines
You will create your own critiquing deadlines within your groups, and we ask that you stick to these dates. While we realize "life happens" we are dependent upon participation from every member in order for everyone to gain value from these groups. We ask that you do not leave your partners/group stranded. Maintain communication if you anticipate any problems meeting these deadlines.
Syllabus
Once you've registered, head over and fill out our Crit Group Questionnaire!
Author
Riley Darkes
Start date
Jan 9, 2017 at 9:00 AM
End date
Jan 20, 2017 at 10:00 PM
Registration end date
Jan 11, 2017 at 8:21 PM
Rating
4.38 star(s) 26 ratings

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Latest reviews

Mako-clb
This was a great event. I enjoyed getting feedback from three other people. The different perspectives gave me a lot to think about and different avenues to follow. It was also beneficial to compare the feedback I gave to the feedback others gave to each writer. My only suggestion would be to give a little more time to read each story and provide feedback, especially as it seemed some writers were also still working on their own stories.
CJ Jones
I learned so much from this class. Being a new author, this group helped build my confidence in my work.
Deelylah Mullin
I really liked the Crit Group I participated in. The people were nice and really accommodating when I was unable to complete the crits due to the unexpected death of my mom.

One thing I think would really improve the experience is laying down a foundation of expectations for the crit group to make sure everyone is on the same page. I don't need someone to work on grammar/punctuation/sentence structures--I have an editor for that. I was very specific regarding my needs for the one piece I was able to submit and maybe my needs are very different from the others in the group.

I know the groups were of mixed experience, so maybe I had authors that weren't able to accomplish my purpose of having a crit group.

While it wouldn't promote building relationships--and would be hugely time-consuming--maybe having a small pod of authors to which one author submits material and others review and another group where authors critique would meet needs better.
giffmacshane
This was an excellent chance to get more input on my opening chapters and I found it very helpful. The only drawback for me was not being able to access the profiles of my team members to see what they were looking for before starting to critique their work. They may have been available, but I couldn't find any instructions on how to access them.
Latin Lady
Although I loved the idea of learning to be part of a critique group, I didn't like the lack of participation. Perhaps the time lines were too close. In a group of 4, you have to read 3 writers pages and if you work full-time and have a family that can be a lot to do in a week's time.
I did stick to the schedule but am disappointed others did not. However, I am hoping I can stay in contact with at least one of the members in my group. And, I did get PM from another savvy author about being critique partners.
Thanks for the opportunity
lrdavis
I enjoyed my Critique team. They were a great group.
Things to improve?
*Improve start time: This event had a slower start (especially for people on Austrailian and European timelines). We were two days into the event before things really kicked off. Could we make a practice of team assignments prior to the event, so the time when the Event begins is limited to lessons posted and interaction between participants?
*Improve team interaction: Could we encourage a cross-over between teams? Encouragements? Information exchange? Sometimes the team forums can become dry and seemingly inactive while the 'critiquing' is being done, so when a person is 'online' and looking for something happening, they can perceive that nothing is happening here. Having the exchange of encouragements or insightful writing/critiquing/editing tips can make a lull in forum/thread activity a learning experience.
*Feedback to the Critter: It would be good to give feedback to the critiquer on the critique. On Scribophile, where most of what they do is critiquing, they try to help give feedback to the critiquers in the form of affirmations...a means to click on five categories: Thorough, Enlightening, Constructive, Encouraging, Like -- If we had some means of providing a click feedback for critters then we would have an easy means of providing affirmation to the critter as well as the one critiqued.
On the other hand, what was offered ROCKED as usual. @Riley Darkes has terrific Lessons and posts. She is a terrific instructor and organizer. I bow to her greatness!!!
Barbara Bates
I'm using 5 as the best. If you didn't mean it to be, then have the least and most liked options marked.

I thought the session beneficial and constructive. The only change I'd like to see is to have an area accessible by those doing critiques with references in it directly related to critiquing, grammer, plotting, and other associated themes. But limited to those themes related to critiquing and writing a novel.
Denise Stockstill
There were three members in my group but only two of us really participated. I did enjoy it though.
Lynn Shannon
The entire event was well planned and flowed easily. Once we were in our groups, it was simple to figure out how the group wanted to do the critiques. I really liked the encouragement thread and the watercooler thread as well.
Lizzy Easton
Great event--thank you. I'm so glad I joined. Looking forward to forming a crit group after the event.
Just a note--iI'm presuming 5 is great and 1 not so good as it doesn't give the scale.
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