THE MAD SCRIBBLERS' TEA PARTY!

I think I may have mentioned I belong to a critique group, but I think this is the first time I have mentioned its name: The Mad Scribblers' Tea Party - Mad Scribblers for short. We formed a little over two years ago and recently we grew from four to five members.

Last Tuesday evening we had our monthly meeting. We spent the evening nibbling away at our shared supper and reading out extracts of our work. As always we discussed our work, then took copies home to scrawl all over in red pen.

It is an immensely helpful group that is enabling us to become better writers. I can't imagine my writing life without their support. Between the five of us there is always someone to point out when the plot doesn't quite make sense, a new favourite word has been adopted or the MC's eyes keep changing colour. This week they helped me to realise that my MC had changed her mind too quickly. Last month it was my hours of research sounding like a travelogue. Ouch!

An eclectic group, we are a mixture of ages and genders who write across a broad spectrum of genres. There is T who is writing a middle grade story of goblins and fairies with a unique and fresh take. C writes predominantly Sci Fi with an imagination that knows no boundaries. R writes YA or Adult fantasy, or Victorian historicals with elegant prose and K is working on an intriguing paranormal with local content. Then of course there is myself, who is firmly entrenched in the historical.

So if you are a writer and you don't belong to a small critique group, then I highly recommend you form one. I wouldn't be without mine.