Among the many casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic have been my face-to-face writers’ groups. Of the four such groups to which I belonged prior to the pandemic, only one continues to meet and only through online conferences. The demise of my in-person critique groups has made my membership in Charles O’Donnell’s Write-to-Publish online critique group all the more important.

There obvious pluses and minuses to such a group. On the plus side is safety from COVID. To the best of my knowledge, that dreaded virus has not yet figured out how to infect people via cyberspace.  In addition, since Charles has designated writing cycles (usually 2 weeks) for submitting and critiquing, group members have ample time to review the work of others and make submissions of their own. As for minuses, the biggest one is the loss of dynamic interaction that comes from having writers read their work aloud to their peers and receive immediate feedback from them.  There is also some loss of collegiality with fellow writers, who often need encouragement, as well as advice, on their creative ventures. Speaking for myself, I have found it easier to provide and receive this encouragement across a table than through a computer.

I joined Write-to-Publish in the summer of 2019 — several months before the pandemic came on the scene — but have been active almost from the start. Of late, I’ve been submitting chapters from my YA novel-in-progress Diary of a Girl in Trouble and receiving some potentially helpful comments. At the same time, I’ve been critiquing at least one submission during each writing cycle and sometimes as many as three. I’ve been a regular reviewer of two lengthy works in particular.  A.G. Lamar’s Eye of the Storm — a pirate adventure set in the Caribbean during the late 17th Century — appeals to my life-long love of sea-faring action stories. Tom Thomin’s memoir Out of Asia deals with his missionary activities in China during the 1990s and brings to mind my daughter and son-in-law’s current experience in Indonesia. When I examine submissions from either of these writers, I focus above all on grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. It’s a task I’ve performed for many years in my other writers’ groups. With Eye of the Storm, however, I also pay attention to the historical accuracy of the ships, situations, and dialogue that are at the core of the narrative. A.G. has taken on a huge challenge in placing his story in a setting and time period far different from his own. Accordingly, alertness to anachronisms is a high priority.

Currently, there are almost 50 members of Write-to-Publish, but as in any such group, some are more active than others. Charles occasionally “culls the herd,” dropping people who have neither submitted or critiqued for an extended time. Writers who do contribute one way or another receive designations that highlight their level of involvement. I’m now an “estimable” member, having previously been an “active,” “eminent,” and “trusted” one. By continuing to make regular submissions and critiques, I should become a “reputable” member before the end of the year.

Perhaps someday, when the COVID pandemic has been eliminated or at least brought under control, the members of Write-to-Publish will be able to meet somewhere and share their compositions like a traditional writers’ group. Indeed, before the pandemic, some of us met on the upper floor of a local grocery store to socialize a little and work on our respective projects. But until it’s safe to meet the old-fashioned way, I and my fellow authors in Write-to-Publish will take advantage of modern technology and the Internet to support each other and help dreams come true.