Saturday, July 12, 2014

Day 12 - The role of critiquing in becoming a better writer

I'm part of a group of writers - we've been writing a story every month this year, and we submit it each month, and critique each other's stories.

Critiquing others' stories is a great way of learning the craft of writing. 

In the beginning, it seems difficult - how can you comment about others' writing when you are not so hot yourself?  But once you start, it gets easier, and you realize - it doesn't matter if you are a better writer than the other person or not.  What matters in critiquing is that unlike just reading a story and deciding whether you like it or not, critiquing forces you to recognize what you like and what you don't like in a story, and WHY. 

And the recognition of this WHY is essential because the next time you write a story, you subconsciously bear that in mind, and your story turns out to be better.

So, if you're looking to improve your writing technique, I highly recommend a critique group.

3 comments:

Radhika said...

Please share your stories here :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi Shruthi,
How do I join this group of writers(I am simply a blogger not any professional writer)but still would be interested so as to better myself.

Shruthi said...

Radhika, I'll try and get it published in journals/magazines.

Desiherald, I'm sorry but that is a private group. However, I strongly recommend the "Practice-W" group in the Internet Writers Workshop. Google and see, and join. Helped me a lot.

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