Good Critique Group--Priceless

It's impossible to put a price on a "good" critique group.  I was admitted into my second one about a year and a half ago, and I'm still counting my blessings.  They've taught me so much, from polishing up a sentence to fixing your plot and making your manuscript sing.  My first critique group was comprised of 7 new and mostly inexperienced writers.  This must be where the phrase "the blind leading the blind" came from, because that was us.  We began by restricting one another to submitting no more than 10 pages for review at a time.  Talk about a lesson in futility.  How can you possibly comment on anything you find in 10 pages as it pertains to character development, plotting, or virtually anything that goes into creating an entire manuscript.  But as I said, we were inexperienced.  We did grow some, but one person moved away and others moved on (taking care of children and working in other careers).  My current group (http://www.thewildwriters.com/) first formed back in the 80's, and the expertise they've gained over time was immediately evident.  We submit full manuscripts, and create complete, typed reviews to be discussed at a meeting.  We cover everything from writing skills to storytelling to character development.  It's overwhelming to be on the "hot seat," and after my first time, I left in a fog, wondering where I would begin with the overwhelming revisions suggested by various members of the group.  I set the manuscript aside for awhile until I caught my breath, then I dug in.  I adopted a method used by one of the group members.  I went through all twelve typed reviews (there are actually more members in our group, but not everyone reviews every manuscript each time), and made a list of each issue mentioned.  Then I made a check each time one was mentioned again.  Those with the most checks, I knew I had to deal  with.  The others I also considered carefully.  This exercise prepared me for the work which was no small undertaking.  When I finished, though, even I knew my manuscript was far and above what I had submitted to them.  I think it's hard to start a critique group with all new writers.  My recommendation is to have a mix if at all possible.  For new writers wanting to find such a group, I encourage you to become visible.  For example, attend conferences, enter contests, volunteer to help with writers activities.  I'd been interested in joining this group for years.  By the time they invited me in, I'd won several first and second place awards, and had coordinated a writers summer retreat.  I'd come to know many of them through conferences I attended.  This is crucial because any well-established critique group needs to know you're serious and you've put some time into it.  And the time you put into it will be worth it.  While I'm not yet published, I know my manuscripts are much closer.  In fact, just in the past six weeks, I've received three requests for fulls.  A good critique group...priceless!