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Tina Connine said this on a couple of the loops this morning and she’s right. That’s why people flock to groups like RWA, Romance Writers of America and their local affiliations. In Phoenix, the Valley of the Sun and Desert Rose are the local chapters.

And if you’re aspiring to write…it’s the place to get what you’ll need. One size fits all…because the women (and some men) there will give you what you need if you reach out.  

I think if was ’99 when I first joined national RWA, but I didn’t join the local meetings until after I’d written a 114,000 word historical romance in 2001 and I needed to know what to do with it. (Side note…it’s been with a publisher for two years now and still not released) I learned I should enter contests and/or use the mentor program which I eventually did.

My sister died in Nov. of 2000 and things got fuzzy then. I didn’t write. By the end of ’01, I realized I needed to meet other writers. I started going to local meetings.  By 2003, I presided as president over Desert Rose, because I had established I was serious about writing.
My stint as president stunted my writing progress when I became too busy. My word count dropped to nil. By 2004, I was ready(again) to start writing seriously. I’d picked up a skill-set from attending meetings and workshops and wanted to put it to the test.

Back to my point…the village. I used the information from the RWA workshops, given by volunteer writers to help other writers. I used the friends I’d made at the local chapters as a valuable resource to help in my progress. I used manuals and texts. However, nothing did as much to help in my progression as a critique group.

When you have a critique group and you are serious about writing, it can help you to avoid procrastination. My first group was online. While it helped, the four of us who were involved didn’t mesh well. Our writing styles were dissimilar and our personalities clashed. Or so I thought.

What I didn’t realize is that the personal face-to-face interaction you can get with a group is the key to unlocking trust. Trust that your partners only want the best out of you. And there are so many rules to be learned…POV, grammer, plot holes, dialog, vivid compelling characters and so much more.

One of the first responses when I sent my work out into the world was that my worked lacked characterization.

What?

I didn’t have a clue what I needed to do to fix it…then. Now, my reviews often say characterization is my strong point.

This came with a lot of help from my “village” and persistence. The village of the original Butterscotch Martini Girls taught me so many valuable lessons. When we first met at Ray’s Pizza on Carefree Highway, it was the goal for all of us to have something new to submit for one another to critique. The learning curve was fast and furious at that point.

All four of us, Alexis, Pat, Tina and I had something to submit to the group every other week. This made us equals, no matter where we were in our skill-set. Two of the original women worked fulltime, I worked fulltime only during tax season, and one was retired.

These women had stories to be critiqued…almost always. I personally believe this is mark of someone who is serious about their writing. Why? Submitting every two weeks became a deadline of sorts. Deadlines are something that can’t be avoided in writing. I have eight deadlines coming over the next eight months. And I’ve promised a story I hope to start this week to a new publishing company. And I’ve promised chapters elsewhere. And I need to get serious about finding an agent, which I just can’t seem to do. I only think about it.

Doing submission deadlines for a group who expects it of you will show you if you can do it for an editor one day. Working a day job is not an excuse. Most writers can’t quit their day jobs right away. My biggest piece of advice is to write…just write. Anything can be fixed except a blank page.

I’m not saying you can’t do it on your own, but it’s definitely much harder. I’m in a small town in Ohio now and don’t have writers close…yet. I’ve joined a group about thirty miles away, but haven’t been regular. But I will…and I will make friends once this funk over moving away from Phoenix lifts. 

 Brit Blaise - now working on #19 for Amber Quill in just over two years