Monday, July 16, 2012

A Writer's Drawing Board






There are a few things I have to constantly remind myself about writing. 1) It's good to have someone else read the work. 2) The someone else reading the work will have his or her own opinion of said work.

Sometimes criticism can hurt. Often, it leaves you asking yourself what in the world the person is talking about. You can have five different people read your work and receive five unique critical responses. This is where the thick skin a writer has to have comes in handy. Writers need to be thick skinned, sure, but we also must be willing to take the opinions of others into consideration.

I just finished reading a blog post about a multi-published writer who had a manuscript sent back asking for a completely different book. The author had to go back to the drawing board, as they say. That type of rejection must hurt in the worst way, but sometimes starting over can produce something greater. I can only imagine that it would be discouraging to be told "start over." I think instead of feeling discouraged about it, any author could see such a criticism as a challenge. Also, keep the rejected work, because it could be just what someone is looking for next time.

When rejection and harsh criticism hits, grab that drawing board and show it who's boss!

Happy writing!


Copyright (c) Emily D. Wood
Photo: via Photl