Everyone’s a Critic — How to Deal with It
Netta from WordWebbing.com wrote an excellent post on how writers are their own worst critics and how to deal with it. I am guilty as charged. I am have always been a harsh critic of myself. In fact, I’m harder on myself than I would ever consider being on anyone else. (Instead of treating others how you want to be treated, maybe writers should reverse that?)
Writers suffer from the same ailment as musicians, artists, actors, and actresses — our work is under intense scrutiny from the client right from the beginning. Then, every single person who reads what you have written will further critique the content, concept, and technical aspects of the piece. Will they like it? Not like it? Part of it? Is it enough? What do you do when someone shares their thoughts and opinions?
Be Open Minded
Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it. The important thing is that you keep your mind open enough to truly hear and understand opposing views and ideas. Instead of thinking of it as criticism, look at it as the ideal opportunity to discover how others think and learn from it and expand your horizons. This doesn’t mean you have to agree with any of it.
Consider The Source
Keep in mind that everyone has an opinion regardless of whether that person knows anything about the subject or not. Just because he or she chooses to share it doesn’t mean it should automatically determine your choices and decisions. When you receive positive or negative criticism, take from it what you can and let it go. This doesn’t hold true in all situations. If your customer makes some criticisms of your work, you don’t necessarily have to translate this into your other work, but do as they ask and keep that feedback for future use.
Don’t Take It Personal
This is likely the most common reason for conflict between critics/editors and writers. When someone provides feedback, it is nothing more than an opinion about your work that may or may not contain helpful information to make it even better. Even though it can be a tough thing to swallow, it isn’t a personal attack. In fact, the other person wouldn’t say anything unless they wanted to see the piece improve. Hence, this is a good thing.
It doesn’t matter if you are looking at a Rembrandt painting, watching a Shakespearian play, or reading Robert Browning, all of them have withstood criticisms. We are subject to it eventually. It’s what we choose to do with these criticisms that make the difference.
What do you do? How do you deal with criticism?
February 18, 2009 at 10:53 am | For the Writer | 1 comment
Great points Angie!
Feedback is just part of the writing process — we can take measures to ensure that we get as much information up front as necessary to produce what the client had in mind — but there are still times when changes are going to be necessary after the fact. I've learned to really like feedback — it helps me to see things in new ways.
One thing that does drive me nuts though (and only happens rarely these days) is when a client that really doesn't understand best practices asks for something that I am pretty sure isn't going to help them achieve their goals. That's when I usually give own objective feedback and site past examples where what they are asking won't necessarily work as well as it could.
But typically, no one knows the customer and their target audience and how to reach them better than the client themselves. I have learned a lot by being genuinely open to listening to feedback!