Handling Criticism as a Writer or Artist

I've been feeling a bit under the weather. But I did have an article appear online recently that I thought might interest some of the readers of this blog. It's a little reflective piece on how to handle criticism. We've all had difficult feedback (and we'll all have plenty more!), and I hope the ideas in the article are helpful to someone somewhere. If you have other suggestions about what's helped you in this area, please do share in a comment on this post if you have a moment.

Comments

Anonymous said…

I've found a couple of things helpful when participating in critique groups. First of all, when someone is explaining how your work can be improved, listen. A lady in my fiction group drives me nuts when she interrupts by saying, "Oh well, I wrote it that way because..." At least consider the suggestion, and don't reject it outright. Of course in the end, this is your story, poem, essay, etc. There's no rule that says you have to do what others suggest.

Also, some people just aren't open to change, and a good example is the lady I mentioned earlier who often says, "Oh, I don't want to write it that way because..." There's not much you can do in this situation, but sometimes, I wonder why I should bother making suggestions if she's just going to reject them outright, but like the gambler who keeps feeding coins into the slot machine at a casino, I'm occasionally rewarded when she takes one of my suggestions to heart. That's what keeps me going.

March 19, 2013 at 11:36 AM

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