Critiquing Into Success

A member of IWW's Nonfiction critique list recently sent me short note saying she found it necessary to leave the group, at least temporarily. I knew her as an excellent, productive writer with publications in national market glossies like Western Horseman Magazine.

When I asked her if there was a problem with this list, she replied that it was simply a matter of time management.

"You realize this is due to the success of the nonfiction list," she wrote. "I don't have time to give the list the attention it deserves because I've got a steady stream of paid work -- generated in part by earlier stories critiqued and improved by the list. What I've found of most value about the list is the companionship and collegiality. What I've found of most value in terms of technique is the way critiquing the work of others spills over into my own work. It's easier to see problems in other people's writing, but once spotted there they stand out more clearly in my own."

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