The other day I started thinking about the people I’ve met during my writer’s journey, those I had the privilege (and sometimes, the misfortune) of working with.  I’m talking a decade here.  Many of their names are still in the forefront of my mind, while others I can’t even remember, but they all fall into basic “archetypes.”

So here they are.  The good, the bad and the certifiable:

Starting out, I had a few Cheerleaders who were so nice and complimentary I never learned anything.  They’d always praise my work, but there was never any meat in their critiques.  The situation with my first Cheerleader got so bad that after a few months I couldn’t bring myself to send her anything else.  I didn’t see the point.

Next came The Second-Guesser who’d slaved over the same manuscript for 4 years. FOUR YEARS.  I was in a group at the time and she kept sending us the same three chapters.  She was a sweet person and an excellent writer, but it got to the point where I couldn’t even recognize her voice anymore because the “group’s” input had diluted it.

Even worse, she had the distinction of encompassing two archetypes.  Not only was she a Second-Guesser with her own work, she was a Minimalist (Read: Lazy Critiquer) with ours.  This type of writing buddy provides little if any input on your WIP.  Her comments are usually superficial at best.  Stuff like, “Nice description,” and she may toss in an occasional smiley face or LOL, but that’s about it.

On the opposite end, there’s The Slash and Burner.  The one I had didn’t know the meaning of the word tact.  In fact, brutal honesty didn’t even begin to describe this chick.  My second critique group dreaded sending her stuff because she would just rip it to shreds.  Impeccable prose too.  I still see her around the internet usually advertising for a crit partner.

Then there’s the straight-up Psycho.  I’ve only had one, but that was more than enough. If you sent her a less than glowing critique, she’d send you the same chapter back, complete with her rebuttals on every comment–IN RED.  Needless to say that relationship didn’t last too long.

I’ve also run into The Reorganizer.  Never much help when it comes to plot or characterization, these partners feel compelled to rewrite every sentence or paragraph of whatever they’re critiquing.  And most of their rewrites do nothing but change the order of what had been perfectly ordered words.  The Punctuation Nazi is from the same family.  While she may occasionally rewrite a sentence or two, her primary focus falls on those evil little commas and semi-colons.  Oh, and conjunctions too.

Last, but certainly not least, we have The Godsend.  I’ve been fortunate enough to have several of them.  You know the types who can just look at something once and know exactly what’s wrong–and how to fix it?  I love these women! Free Smiley Face Courtesy of www.FreeSmileys.org  My first Godsend wrote lovely prose, published two or three books, then became very ill and dropped off the face of the map. I haven’t heard from her in years, but I think about her always.  She basically taught me how to SEE when I write.  I’ll forever be grateful to her.

I’ve since found a few more Godsends.  One was a recent Golden Heart finalist who’s thisclose to getting published.  Another just happens to be a fellow Chica blogger.  I won’t name this person because I don’t want to stroke her ego embarrass her.  Free Smiley Face Courtesy of www.FreeSmileys.org   All in all, finding writers whose opinions you trust isn’t easy, which is why Godsends are a rare commodity.

So what’s your story?  Who are some of the people you’ve met during your writing journey?  Do they fall into any of the “archetypes” I’ve mentioned?   Are you still in touch with most of them?  Have some become fuzzy shadows in your mind?  Do you have any inspiring or crazy stories to share?