Here are some reasons I love my new critique group.
- It’s small, and we can get through everything in 90 minutes.
- Nobody gets defensive (which helps with #1).
- I agree with 90% of their comments**
- We all live within a relatively short ride of each other***
I hope they also bring good snacks, but that might be too much happiness.
*With apologies to my old ones, because they were also quite wonderful.
**So they are clearly brilliant and insightful.
***Unless it’s rush hour, because, you know, Northern Virginia.
An Actor, a Writer, and a Rabbi's Wife Walk into a Bar... 
I have been in great, good, and bad critique groups. The great one lasted 10 years, and for some of the same reasons you cite here. As for the bad one, it may still be going on, but I did a runner after my third meeting. As Kenny Rogers sang “Know when to fold ’em.”
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