Guest Post - Krista D. Ball

Please welcome Krista D. Ball with a guest post today!

Lesbians don't have wives, or Finding the Right Writing Group

Folks love to join writing groups. I even suggest that people join them to get a handle on their work, learn new skills, and figure out how to best present their work. There's so much good that can come from a writing group. And so, so much bad.

Over the years, I've gravitated away from the group RAWR RAWR environment where all that happens is your work gets line edited. Nevermind that my plot fails the Magic Cell Phone test*; it has a missing comma and everyone knows editors will reject books with incorrect commas. (As a side note, this is a myth I disprove with each acceptance).

A few years ago, I was running Road to Hell through a critique group. I had written a fairly basic after-hours military scene. I got a critique back that told me I was wrong and to talk to people who actually knew something about the military.

So, I talked to myself. I was a weekend warrior with the Canadian military for a year or two (I actually forget how long). It was a part time job during university. My ex husband? Reg force. My brother? Regs. Other brother? Regs. Other brother? Retired reg force. Brother's spouse? Full-time reserves. See, it wasn't that my scene was incorrect, but that it wasn't correct according to his idea of how military folks should act. But, I let it slide.

Then, Captain Francis was unveiled as a *gasp* lesbian. What was my dark science fiction novel was now the lesbian space captain story (a label that has stuck). The space matter hit the fan when Katherine called her wife her, you know, wife. I was told by several people that it should be partner or, if I must, spouse. But never wife. Lesbians don't have wives; they have partners. (In Canada, they have wives, thank you very much).

Even though I had a rather major plot hole, which I didn't fix until years later, the writing group were focused on nitpicky things that were in fact not even errors. I eventually left and joined a small group of authors who were all around the same skill level as myself. I no longer get 20 critiques of my work, but I also get "you have a plot hole" comments, as opposed to "lesbians don't have wives."

I've learned a couple of things when searching out writing groups. Here's what I found:

1. Personality. Never underestimate the power of personality clashes. I have seen successful groups ripped apart by nothing more than two people not liking each other.

2. Goals. We are all in different spots in our writing careers; some of us don't even have careers. We also have different goals. It's important to belong to groups that encourage and support your goals, as opposed to get jealous, discourage, or belittle your goals.

3. Feedback. If you've never gotten feedback about your work, you might need an easy, light touch the first time around. Some people don't, but many people do bristle when they first getting into writing groups. I was told that I'd caused someone to never write again (if she couldn't handle me saying "I spent 4 hours writing this out for you because I think this story has excellent potential and is worth working on" she couldn't have handled her first 1 star review as an author saying "I wish I could give this a 0.")

At the same time, back patting can only last so long. Folks talk about self-publishing because there are no "gatekeepers" to prevent them from publishing. Yeah, but instead of being rejected by publishers, you'll be rejected by readers who paid money to look at your work. It sure doesn't get easier.

4. Commitment. If you only have 2 hours a week of quiet time where you can write, do you really want to be spending it critiquing 8 stories that you hate?

*Magic Cell Phone Test: Can your heroine get out of this sticky situation by the use of a cell phone or magic? If so, there better be a damn good reason why she has neither.

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About the Author: Krista D. Ball is a Canadian speculative fiction author who is currently hiding from necromancers. Better safe than undead. www.kristadball.com