Blog Chain: The Little People

Well, it's my turn to start a round of the blog chain. What I want to know is:

Do you work with critique partners? How did you find your crit pals, and what influence have they had on your work?

I might've titled my post The Little People, meaning all the folks who chime in along the way when you're working on a manuscript, but really, my crit buddies are a HUGE part of my writing.

My core group of critique partners hasn't changed for a while now. Back in 2008, a friend from my moms' group, Shawntelle Madison, and I were at a mutual friend's son's birthday party. We learned we were both writing similar fiction. I'd never had a crit partner in earnest before, so when she asked if we could exchange work, I was sort of taken aback. What? You mean you actually want to read my hot mess?

Why, yes. Yes, she did.

Shawny then joined the Query Tracker forums and found out we lived near Cole Gibsen, who was kind enough to meet up with us at a coffee house. Now I'm sure we sounded like a pair of overenthusiastic twits, so Cole sat with her back to the wall, ensuring no one could come up from behind, and laid it out: no BS, no games, she was serious and expected us to be serious as well. Shawny and I were up for the challenge, and our crit duo became a trio.

Through the blog chain, I met Amanda Bonilla. At the time, we were both on the agent hunt. When she expressed some frustration, I messaged her and asked if she wanted to talk. It was kind of bold for me to say, "Call me" because I'm uber-shy. I'd gotten to know her online and, hey, she was 1,000 miles away and not about to show up at my door. Holy cats, the stars aligned! She's my Idaho doppelganger. I swear. Through Amanda, I got to know Windy Aphayrath, who has also exchanged writing with me quite a bit.

More recently, I began critting with Hillary Monahan. Hillary and I have the same literary agent, signed within months of each other. We began circling each other on blog posts and writers' websites, and then she emailed me right about Thanksgiving last year, promised she wasn't a stalker, and struck up a friendship that led to exchanging work.

I've had other eyes on my work, but these are the people who have had the greatest influence on my writing. Sometimes crit relationships don't work out, and that sucks. It's like any relationship--you have trust and everyone's needs have to be met for it to be successful. In my case, Amanda is my cheerleader. She has read EVERYTHING I've thrown at the wall to see if it might stick. Shawny and Cole are good at making sure I'm keeping it real. Windy brings the logic I often lack and is like the teacher shaking a finger at me. "No, no, no, you forgot Vayda was in the kitchen. She can't suddenly blink her eyes and be on the front porch with Ward. Smooth out that transition." Hillary's good for me in that she hits me over the head in my weak areas. She's funny, uninhibited, and intense, and I love her for it.

All in all, my crit partners force me to step up my game, to write better, and to know that I can't please everyone. We don't tear each other apart or be unnecessarily brutal. We point out the good with the flawed. We want to help each other succeed in our goals, and that requires being truthful. So that may be another way my crit partners have influenced me--to be honest in my words.

So let me know if you have crit partners and what they have done for you. Make sure you check out Jon's post on this topic, too.