It's a common fact that every writer whether professional or amateur received criticism for the work they have done. No matter how much you love your own work there will always be someone out there who believes they could've wrote it better.
J.K. Rowling received several court claims for plagiarism. Example Larry Potter. She was also heavily criticised for her writing style. (Clearly she kept writing in her own style)
Damien Isaak aka ME accused of plagiarism. Resolved.... (My answer never judge a book by its cover)
Dan Brown for the da Vinci code. They said he's writing was clumsy, ungrammatical and repetitive. (He realised he's writing brought pleasure to millions)
What criticism have you received and how did you handle it ?
Regards to all......
What criticism have you received and how did you handle it ?
Don't hide the name of a good editor, Melanie, spill the beans!
Well... I sent a story off two years ago for a professional critique. I was delighted by the enthusiastic response I received from a well-known, highly-regarded organisation. They thought my writing was fresh and original, powerful, beautifully written etc. etc. They gave me a couple of ideas on how it could be improved, one of which I agreed with. The story went on to be long listed by Fish Publishing. So I decided to send it to another professional manuscript reading service to try to bring it up to short list standard. Also, I think another opinion on one's work is a good idea... (Her website looked OK and she was unbelievably cheap.) I wish I hadn't. I was devastated by the destructive, negative comments. For example: "This sentence is awful!" "This doesn't mean anything." "I have no idea what you are writing about here." "This is a cliche... so is this!" "You need to learn how to write." "The characters are just silly." There was not one positive comment. I complained, explaining that if I was just starting out, and had had no success whatsoever, I would be utterly crushed. I received an arrogant, rude reply. I just wish I had read her work before I sent my story to be critiqued. It was... well full of cliches, dull characters, and a plodding narrative. Then I researched her reading tastes and that said it all... I have since found someone who provides an excellent service and one which is far more detailed than most. But due to costs, I haven't sent anything to her for some time. (She's an excellent writer too!)
I tend to smile, nod, listen to their complaint and tell them I'm going home to fix it. Then I spend the next few weeks staring at the screen unable to fix the problems because my confidence has shattered. In some cases it's months, but only if I trusted the reviewer. In fact, I'm just back after such an incident so this question was well timed!
I haven't listened to any online criticism in years.