Agate, I think you're right to be leery of critique groups. The wrong one can really be destructive.
Discouragement and confusion happened to me in graduate school. I had published and produced a lot and decided to get a graduate degree in creative writing for absolutely no reason. I got so discouraged and confused by all the academic crud that I haven't submitted a thing since. I've written a lot, mostly on commissions, but I'm still am not submitting any unsolicited material.
Maybe I just got burned out by a business in which I wrote proposal after proposal and was rejected and rejected until I finally wound up with some very lucrative contracts. I'm not sure which affected me the worst. Either way, I think a critique group is ok, but an encouragement group is wonderful. That's what Purple Page has been for me. Pray for the right group.
smile

[ March 02, 2004, 08:40 PM: Message edited by: smilinize ]