Well, over the years I’ve received a ton of
advice from authors, editors, and publishers, but the best advice I’ve ever
gotten was to take constructive criticism and learn from it.
If you were to ask anyone of the people in
my writers group they’d tell you I love criticism when it comes to my writing.
I suck it up like a sponge. Why would someone want to have their work ripped to
shreds you may ask? First of all, I do not see it as being ripped to shreds. I
see it as a way to grow as a writer.
I need to know what others think of my
writing for me to improve. None of us are perfect, we’ve all revised, rewrote,
and reworked our manuscripts a dozen times before it’s close to presenting to a
publisher. How could I do this without the help and criticism of my peers?
As a writer I am always second guessing
myself, but with the help of those around me I can see that I’m either on the
right track, or on some dirt road leading nowhere. The thing with criticism is
you have to put your ego aside and understand that it’s never personal. It is
simply the business of writing.
If your goal is to be an author grow a
thick skin. Put on your armor because rejections can be harsh. If you’re not
prepared by taking criticism from others, the rejection process will crush you.
With every rejection I’ve received, and there have been plenty, I took what the
publisher said and I used it to my advantage. This doesn’t mean you have to
agree with all criticism, but keep an open mind.
Kat
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