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One danger of writers' groups is that they can encourage participants to look at craft and even content in a group-sanctioned way. The best groups don't do that, but if you have even a few members who are inclined to be prescriptive, or who only value one time-sensitive style or approach, then you're back at the Iowa School of Writing filling in the blanks in someone else's idea of form (and even syntax).
Imagine what would have happened if Lovecraft had belonged to something like that: Humble and plausible fiction that offended no one's attention span and showed you everything.
Without his crazy-ass explanations, Raymond Roussel's novels would be half as fun as they ended up being. Same with Lovecraft, whether you find him frightening, amusing or both.
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