How Do I Know What I Think Until I See What I Say?

I know I've talked about critique groups before, but there's something so fraught in joining them and in staying in them that the topic keeps coming up in the blogs that I read. For example, here is a great entry from Becky Levine about what makes a group the right group for you. Right now, I have the good fortune to be in a group that is working well for me (and, I hope, for the others involved). Here are the things that work for me: 1. a set schedule. We meet once a month, on the same day every month. We only vary that rarely, when the date conflicts with a major holiday. If people can't be there because they're on vacation, or traveling, or sick, or what have you, that doesn't matter. The group goes on. With or without me or whoever else is missing. 2. a process. We send in our manuscripts by email, which means that we aren't constrained to what we have time to read in the meeting. Most of the people in the group are working on projects for mid