A comment by a friend of mine got me to thinking about goals, critique groups, and the changing publishing industry.

Sitting at a point two years gone from joining a critique group and reading all the uproar about the publishing industry and how in Japan they are not only selling stories written for cell phones but written ON cell phones, and how Important People are predicting the end of print and a time when all stories will be free on blogs for reading, a fledgling writer such as myself might wonder just why the hell I'm bothering. I might question why I meet with the critique group other than for the camaraderie. And that's perfectly valid.

But if I sit back and look over the past dozen years, I get a much different view.

Writers like me, join critique groups because they want to get feedback on their writing and become better writers. Quickly after joining, we discover that we also want to help others become better writers because this is a journey that is better when accompanied.

As we spend time with our groups, put more work into our writing, and get encouragement, it's not abnormal to begin to think that our goal is to see a book with our name on it in bookstores and on a bestseller list. We start thinking that the only proof of our value as writers is to be In Print. This is even easier when other members of the group get published. We get that itch to catch up and prove we are as worthy as the others.

But that is false thinking, at least for me. The core goal is still to become a better writer. Everything else depends on that and is simply tasty icing.

Right now the publishing industry and everyone connected to it is having purple-striped, fire-breathing kittens. In some corners, the sky isn't just falling, it's throwing chunks of the moon and space junk at us on its way down. But that's not so either. The industry is changing. That's a given. No one knows exactly how it will change even though there are plenty of Experts willing to tell you that They Know. They don't Know; they speculate. And that's fine. It's good to look toward the future and consider possibilities.

One thing I can guarantee (Yes, you can quote me; I Know) is that storytelling is not going to disappear. The oldest profession is supposedly prostitution, but I would argue that storytelling is damn close. Humans can not live without storytellers and the dreams they weave.

I don't know if my first book will be published in print, as an ebook, on the web, or as a podcast. I don't know if my first paycheck will be in dollars and cents, virtual money, credit with on-line stores, dinner coupons, or word fame. But I know I will write it, and I know people will read it.

The critique group continuously helps me realize my core goal. Because of that, I feel like I will realize my dream goal, whatever form that might take.