I wrote this at one of the annual weekend workshop my writing group runs. Being told what to write about is a good exercise for the imagination.
I’ve been known to say other people have better ideas, by which I mean that they have different ideas, ones that I might not necessarily have. This is one reason a critique group can be so useful. There are lots of other reasons too, including mutual support, learning, contacts – all benefits that come from your primary obligation, the reason the these sorts of groups exist – that first of all you help other people become better writers. Then they help you. That’s the way it works. Pay it forwards.
