Writing – A Question of Courage, Conviction and Rejection
There are various quotes about the futility of trying to please all of the people all of the time and all of them are true. It is just impossible and we probably all realise that anyway.
As a writer, your book may be too long for some people’s taste or too short for other’s; too jocular or too serious; but, it may just be on the ‘wrong’ subject, which can mean many things.
However, writers like to have appreciation for their work because it gives them the encouragement that they need to keep writing. I am sure that this is true of all the arts, which is why so many artists are so sensitive to criticism. Some won’t even read it and that might be a good tactic.
First of all, it might be a good thing to define what I mean by the arts in this article. I mean it as broadly as you can possibly make it. In other words, everything that people do when creating anything.
If you have a stall, some people might not like how you set it out; if you build a house, some might not like its design. Some may not like the way you speak, your accent your style of dress or anything else that lies with your control.
For those of a sensitive nature criticism can be very or even extremely upsetting. Those people have to find a way of overcoming criticism. You can either learn to overcome it or just ignore it all together.
The first thing that you need before you can be criticised is a piece of work for people to appraise. Writing in, in my case, on the privacy of a laptop, is easy enough, because no-one can read it. Acting is different, but writing at home may be like rehearsals.
Then the article or book is ready and you have to make sure that you really believe everything that you have written. Obviously, a fantasy story about aliens or monsters is unreal, but you still have to believe in the validity of your work.
Read it and re-read it. Improve it’s flow, it’s wording and continuity. When you know that you can do no more – you are absolutely convinced of this – you need the courage of your convictions and launch your piece out into the world for appraisal and criticism.
That is scary and adverse criticism is painful, although praise is wonderful, but you will learn more from criticism if you trust the critic.
Always bear in mind the old saying: ‘those who can’t teach’. This may be unfair on teachers with a calling, but still, the artist is putting his feelings on the line, he is bearing his soul for all to poke fun at and that is not easy.
If you are still having trouble writing or publishing, remember this: not everyone likes Shakespeare or the film Titanic.
After all, it’s not much of a thriller, is it, but it is a great romance.
If you need help publishing, see ‘Megan Publishing Services’ or and ‘Virtual Assistants’ in the header
by +Owen Jones
Copied from Owen’s Personal Blog with kind permission.