Critique Group Week: Meet the Tighty Writeys!

1. How many members do you have?
We currently have nine regularly
attending members: Curtis Manley, Jeanie Mebane, Laurie Thompson, Lois
Brandt, Kevan Atteberry, Susan Greenway, Arlene Williams, Dana Sullivan, Dan
Richards

2. How long has the group been together? 
Some
of us have been critiquing together in various forms for almost 10
years. Our group has come together from combining the surviving members
of two dwindling groups several times until we finally got to a stable
number of committed children’s book authors and illustrators. It took a
long time, but it’s been worth it.

3. Do you focus on single or multiple genres?
Although
we all write and/or illustrate for children, we have critiqued members’
work ranging from board books to adult, short stories to novels,
fiction and nonfiction, even poetry and illustrations. We also critique
each other’s query letters, cover letters, outlines, titles, portfolios,
teaching materials, etc. Anything goes!

4. How often do you meet? Where? 
We
meet two evenings every month in the café of a local grocery store on
the Eastside. The store is happy to have us because we often buy dinner,
snacks, drinks, and even celebration supplies! Many of us grab some
groceries after the meeting, too. It’s fairly
quiet in the evenings and we’re usually the only ones there, so it works out well for everyone.

5. What has been your group’s biggest challenge(s)? How have you resolved it/them? 
 As
I mentioned above, finding that stable core of committed members was
the biggest challenge, and being willing to evolve, combine with other
groups, and add new people is how we finally resolved it.

6.
What is the format of your meetings? What seems to work best for the
group (writing exercise to start, then single/double critiques, etc.)
As
people arrive, they put the work they are bringing to have critiqued in
the middle of the table. Each person with something to be read brings
enough printed copies for everyone (or close, anyway). We usually chat
and catch up on everyone’s writing news for the first few minutes, then
we dive into the pile. The work gets handed out to everyone in the group
and someone who hasn’t seen it before volunteers to be the reader. They
read it out loud, while everyone else follows along and makes notes.
Then we go around the table and give our feedback. We aren’t formal
about it, and we interrupt each other and get into discussions all the
time, but it works for us because we’re all comfortable enough with each
other to make sure our opinions get heard. We work our way through all
the pieces to be read and then say goodnight!

7. What is the key to a successful group dynamic?
Well,
first and foremost is Curtis! He does all the organizing for us,
sending out the reminder emails and taking a tally of who is coming and
who has work to be read. He keeps us on track and is the glue that holds
us all together, in addition to spearheading some of the group mergers.
Thank heaven for Curtis!
Second is a spirit of flexibility and
openness. We’re always willing to try something new and experiment with
new methods to fit the situation. For example, we’ll email full
manuscripts to each other for whole novel critiques or if someone
couldn’t make it to a meeting (to get critiqued or to give feedback).
Lately, our illustrators have been showing their sketches and dummies on
iPads instead of bringing printed copies. Sometimes we don’t actually
critique work, but will brainstorm ideas for a plot point or character
or title together instead, if that is what the group member needs to get
unstuck. I guess we only
have two rules: Be encouraging but honest, and come (if possible) even if you don’t have work to share.

8. Any quirky group rituals? Inspirational rituals? Favorite snacks?
Most of us drink hot tea. And we always dive in if anyone brings chocolate.
Thanks
to Arlene, we’ve started a recent tradition of having a little
celebration party with gigantic cupcakes and sparkling cider whenever
anyone has major good news.
We also are on email with each other sharing news, asking questions, and cracking jokes almost every day.

9. If there is anything you’d like to add that would bring your group to life for Chinook readers, please spill the beans!
When
we started, almost none of us were published or agented. Now we all are
either agented or published, or both. We’ve come a long way together,
and we’re committed to one another’s success.
(Dana insists our group’s name is the Tighty Writeys, but the rest of us aren’t so sure….)