What can a first reader bring to your writing?
Like most writers, when I started, I fell in with a critique group. However, unlike most writers, this group was awesome. Just to give you some perspective, I joined this group in the late ’80s. This group is still around, still working. Their website is still active.
One of the reasons why this group was so successful was because it operated more like a first reader group, not a critique group.
They would tell you what was wrong with your story.
HOWEVER.
If someone didn’t find anything wrong, they would say so. They would also tell you what worked in terms of the story.
Most critique groups are there to critique. Their job is to tear things apart. They won’t tell you when something is working, or when you’re doing something right. Many times people in a critique group will feel as if they’re not doing their “job” if they don’t find something to criticize. So they’ll make stuff up. (Not going to turn this into a commentary on gaslighting, but I’ve seen it happen.)
I believe that most critique groups are actively detrimental to young writers. The writer gets torn apart and when they “break the rules” they get strictly corrected. (The only rules that exist are Heinlein’s rules. Look that up if you don’t know what I’m…
