Critique Group

I've just joined about ten different writing critique groups online. I'm hoping to find an outlet for advice and inspiration to a degree that has been lacking in the critique group I'm in presently. Basically, I don't know why I have to sit around and listen to a YA fantasy novel manuscript, a children's book manuscript, a thriller that is incredibly childish without meaning to be, and a memoir that reads like a shopping list just to get advice on my mystery novels from the same people whose work I find so poorly written in the first place. It's not that they're a bad group, I just want a genre-specific group.

I heard that there was a local critique group that met in the Rice Village at a mystery bookstore. Due to the demands of fatherhood, making a break for a meeting with such a group would be well nigh impossible. Thus I have opted for joining as many online groups as possible. I expect at least one of the ten to yield some degree of inspiration and advice.

I joined my first critique group nine years ago. We formed ourselves after our writing class ended. Notably, it was basically all of the members of the class, plus the instructor, less the weirdo who brough a fifth of whiskey to each meeting, took offense at each negative review of his work, and got so drunk we had to call him a cab.

I've always been impressed by the courage it takes to go to critique groups in person and how much better they make my writing. I can edit and proof-read a story dozens of times, but the second that I read it at a critique group not only do I find problems, but so do the others. Invariably the problems lead to improvements to the story. It's an interesting and enlighting dynamic to say the least.

I hope to be pleasantly surprised by these new online groups.