Throughout the short time I have been writing, I have found that criticism is almost always around the corner.
Just the other day, after not talking about my writing for months, me and my friends were reflecting on the past and they mentioned Dorian-a character from my novel and one I used to talk about a lot. They had assumed that the writing arc of my life was over and that it was merely an embarrassing-or cringe-period of my life to reflect on. Now, no harm was meant by it and none was taken, it just got me thinking.
My writing has been called cheesy, been made fun of for being similar to another dystopia series, and a multitude of other things I don’t wish to get into. However, it has also been called interesting, of ‘publishable quality’ and more.
Out of everything, my friends aforementioned comment has been the one to get me thinking the most. It even inspired this blog post! Not all criticism is bad and I’d say every piece that I have gotten has led me to make a change that was for the better. After reflecting on what my friend had told me, I felt an even stronger connection to my work. Although at times I do feel that it was cheesy or cringe, I took the criticism and I improved. My work is a culmination of criticisms that I didn’t get offended by, but listened to.
Some comments aren’t put in a way that makes you want to listen. They can be mean, aggressive, and down right irritating. It’s hard to sit through them and actually take them on board due to a defensiveness that is innate within all of us. However, I would urge you to dig through the malice and find a brilliant topic of self-reflection which you can use to make a change that is for the better. It’s like Stephen King and his wall of rejection notices! I promise, it really does help.
Anyway, I hope my little story can be of some use to you. Not all criticism is constructive and if someone simply just says your work is stupid then you have every right to ignore them. Just don’t let it eat you up.
Happy writing!
-Cameron 🙂