I am a member of two critique groups. One is through a community group that meets every week, and the other is a smaller group that meets twice a month.

The community group is fluid; there are new members in and out every eight weeks, but populated with some core members. The weekly word count is limited to 1500 words. I've come to love this group, though sometimes I get exasperated with new members who won't take the time to figure out the rules. Every now and then somebody joins who I would classify as a pain in-the-you-know-what, and the easy-going flow of the group is ruptured. Many times I wonder if it is worthwhile for me to continue. I always do. I need that deadline, though recently, even the threat of a looming deadline doesn't work.

Last summer, I swore I'd have something finished by this summer. It didn't happen. I've abandoned two projects. Maybe I'll pick them up later, maybe not. After floundering, I switched to some short stories and entered some contests. We'll see. It has nothing to do with the quality of my writing. I love my words; there just aren't enough of them.

I took a ten-day vacation not too long ago, and it coincided with a request from a former teacher of my children to be a beta reader for her second novel. I'd done a critique of a few chapters of the book in the fall, but she had just secured an agent who suggested some revisions and current events dictated other changes. I was happy to oblige. Her new work seemed more polished and I enjoyed the story. Mistakes and misspellings jump out at me, even when I'm reading for fun, so I kept a running log as I read. She was impressed with my findings and appreciated how I delivered the comments. I am in awe that she completed 280 pages.  I expect she'll have a publishing contract soon.

As for me, I still make the weekly trek to the critique group. A few weeks ago, one newer member finished her novel. In the beginning, she had all kinds of issues with her story--tense, POV, you name it, she had it wrong. It was a mess, but she knew where she was going. She took our advice, learned some grammar, worked hard, and wrote, and rewrote, week after week. She has a complete novel, and it is good.

Here I sit. It is time to roll up my sleeves and start again. They've inspired me. Stay tuned.