The second level of critique groups within Houston Writers Guild helps authors who have completed a novel move more quickly through a critique process and thereby increase the quality of the work before publication. The maximum amount critiqued each week is about double what is allowed in most groups. Group members receive the pages several days before the meeting so they have time to review the pages in depth. The meetings could be face-to-face, but online sessions remove the problem of commuting and of finding a mutually convenient location.

     The HWG board has set several criteria for membership in a Tier 2 critique group.

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• The work that is subject of the critiques must be a completed novel. This means the story must be finished.

• The work must not be published or in the process of publication through a traditional publisher.

• The author must be committed to editing the work.

• Each member must commit to diligently critique the other members’ work.

• To become a member of an HWG Tier 2 group, the author must be a member of a Tier 1 HWG group and is expected to maintain participation in that Tier 1 group.

• Each group should comprise three members.

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Tier 2 Group Process

     The first Tier 2 group established a weekly process. Other groups can adapt it to their needs.

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• Name one person coordinator of the group.

• Hold meetings once a week (e.g. Monday morning at 9 am).

• Limit submissions to 5000 words (3,000 to 4,000 is most common).

• Post submissions to a drop box or cloud storage three days in advance (e.g. by Thursday night).

• Review colleagues’ submissions and mark up electronically. Post the critique file at latest the night before the meeting (e.g. Sunday night).

  1. Members should agree on a format for the comments. Making comments in the text with track changes on is recommended, but so long as everyone agrees, other methods are possible.

• Provide critique in on-line meeting.

  1. For each stage, there is the one critiquing (A), the one being critiqued (B), and a timer (T).

  2. T generally mutes the microphone (but can add short comments) and announces when fifteen minutes has passed.

  3. At this point, A should wrap up. The objective is to spend no more than 20 minutes per stage.

  4. T and A swap roles to complete the critique of B’s work.

  5. Rotate roles until all three have been critiqued.

• Clean up the electronic files. Only the author should keep her or his work long term.

  1. After each meeting, the group coordinator should delete any files from the drop box or cloud storage that are two weeks old or more. This leaves the most recent files for review the next week.

  2. Similarly, delete the files on home computers with the same frequency.