Welcome the Criticism

Welcome the Criticism Welcome the criticism not just as critique group type rejection, but after the book, when people dont like it. Or before the book, when friends scoff about you ever getting onto a shelf in Barnes Noble. These issues should set you on firein a good way. We have a natural tendency to listen to naysayers. Standing fast against the current does not come easy. So when someone, especially someone with a sense of authority or expertise, tells you that youre on the wrong path, you assume they are right . . . you are wrong. In our profession, we are told that we need to write both to what the public wants (i.e., know your reader) as well as be original. Every agent and publisher alive wants something the market has proven while craving that never-seen-before talent.   They want it both ways. Heck, dont we all? Theres comfort in writing with the flow, following success. Theres risk and fear of failure when we dare to be like nothingor no one else. But with higher risk comes greater success. When you are handed criticism, accept it. Study it, then glean what to keep and what to ignore. Itll help you shape and mold what youre trying to accomplish. The hard part is that there isnt a right or wrong answer in how you proceed or whose advice you accept. Thats why so many writers remain average. They keep looking for a right answer that doesnt exist. But if you are stubborn, or contain some semblance of resolve, you start understanding what you want to produce. As rejection carves you, as criticism tests that resolve, you define yourself. When you feel the right path under your feet, writing stories ina voice thats purely yours, you weather the criticism. As stated in the opening paragraph, you become alive, set afire with purpose. Ive been told not to put children in my mysteries. Ive been told not to put so many personal anecdotes in my nonfiction. Agents told me not to use agriculture in Lowcountry Bribe, because it would bore people. Some accused me of too many newsletters, too much information too often delivered. I was told to blog only once a week Study your craft. Study all sides. Stand up and take the criticism or words of friendly advice. Then do what drives you, what enthuses you, what triggers you. Whether you publish or not is solely up to you. If you are fired up enough to make your work spit-polished and pertinent, you will publish. If you wont rest until the public holds your work in its hands, you will publish. The diligent eat up criticism, learning from it, but most of all, learning how to interpret it. When you mature enough in your judgment to pick and choose the advice you take, and recognize what feeds you as an artist and professional, you can wind up doing great things with your words.