Two thoughts from this.

1) You can't break the rules if you don't know them first, because breaking rules in a way that interests readers is an art.

2) I love the term "support trap" because it aptly describes what is going on with a lot of the online writing groups now.

I entered a writing contest on Reedsy recently. When the contest ended, those who chose to do so were asked to critique two other entries and theoretically get two critiques back.

The woman I critiqued returned the favor. But she asked before doing so and was very clearly nervous about upsetting me. I welcomed it though. And her critique did help me improve the story.

Why would you NOT want to improve as a writer? I don't understand this.