Tips From a Young Writer - Criticism

When you write, you put a little of yourself into it. No matter how detached you may think yourself from a story, you poured a lot of precious time and thought into it, and you're not going to get that time back, or get to think those thoughts differently. As a result, you'd like for everyone who reads the book to like it, so as to make your wasted time worthwhile.

Sadly, such is not the case. No one will has or ever will write a book that is liked by everyone. Not even the Bible is liked by everyone - so what makes you think you can outdo God!

If you write a book and put it up for the general public to read, someone who reads it will not like it, I can guarantee it. It's just a fact of a writer's life. However, there are three solutions to this problem.

First solution is to not let anyone read your book. Lock it into a box, or password protect the document. It's a sad thing, but there are many potential authors who will never be published because they are scared that someone will not like their book. I know a few.

Your second solution is to try to write a book that everyone will like. The problem is, there is nothing that everyone likes. You couldn't even pick a genre, because there is no genre that everyone likes. Therefore this solution flies completely out the window and crumbles to dust on the sidewalk.

The solution that works is to accept it. It's as simple as that. Accept that other people have opinions, and that their opinions are often radically different than others. Trust me, I have received some not-so-great reviews. It's not fun. However, there's nothing I can do about it ... other than lock all my work away and not let anyone read it. I've also written some bad reviews, so I know that, if I can dish it, I ought to be able to take it as well.

But don't just toss all the bad reviews out the window! Sometimes your readers will point out valuable information, or point out some mistakes or areas you need to work on as a writer. If your reader says that you need to work on your spelling, work on your spelling. If he says that your characters are flat, work on character development.

So, don't be deterred from writing just because someone might not like your work. Other people probably will! (Unless you have truly bad writing. In that case, get lessons before you start publishing.) Write, write and write some more. And have fun. That's the most important part.

Now that's all I have to say on that topic. If you have a request for me to write on, leave a comment. I will try to form enough of an opinion to write on that, I promise!