Today’s Prompt is: How do you deal with criticism and rejection as a writer?
Introduction
All writers experience criticism and rejection, that’s just part of this life. Not everyone will like everything you write. But it’s really not your job to please everyone. You’re only writing for a particular person with a certain problem that you have the ability to solve.
When someone leaves you a bad comment, try to understand why? You can ask them but if they decide not to bother with answering, you possibly make adjustments if their complaints seem valid. Of course some people will just write, “you suck”. That’s not helpful feedback at all. If it’s not constructive feedback that can benefit your personal and professional growth, ignore it and move on.
Initial Reaction
I get mad when someone leaves me a smart remark. But that’s because I am passionate about everything I write even if some think it’s dumb. One time I wrote an article about how I like honey roasted peanuts. I’m sure I said something about that contributing to my fatness. Someone commented that I should try unsalted peanuts, I was like eww, yuck but I was joking 🙃. They told me I was rude and that they didn’t ask that way on that platform. Which was a total exaggeration (lie).
It was a whole thing after that. They unsubscribed and I wrote a follow-up rant.
But it just reminded me that every reader is not your ideal reader. Those that take the time to get to know you through your writing will understand your style.
Reflecting on Feedback
When I first got into the ChatGPT craze I was just whipping out content. I did a little bit of editing but not a whole lot. My work was generic and you could tell that no human wrote it. I got irritated when publication editors asked me to rewrite my articles. I had spent so much time formatting and finding the right tags and so on and so forth. But I should have been doubling down on making the artificial intelligence generated content was edited to sound like human intelligence played a bigger part in the piece.
I keep blaming my dwindling cognitive skills due to MS and loddy dah. I was just full of excuses but I just started really paying attention to what they said so now I just use AI as an assistant. I will never again let it do my job for me.
Identifying Areas for Improvement
You have to be honest with yourself. Do you need to improve in some areas? If the answer is yes, get busy. To be a good writer, you should be a good reader. Study people who are doing things that you relate to. If they offer a course or coaching, consider investing in yourself.
I realized that although I am good at a lot of things, I suck in some pretty crucial areas concerning my writing. Consistently was a major problem for me but when I found challenges with daily writing prompts, I had found the solution to my problem. I even started creating my own prompts and continue to today.
Turning Setbacks into Opportunities
Have you heard the phrase “A setback is a setup for a come”. No, ask Google about it. If you’re a bit sensitive as it comes being rejected, don’t let it get you down. Rejection is a part of the process. In fact it can be a good thing. It has definitely been a motivator for me in the last year.
Think about it like this, if you love to sing but no one in your life ever heard you and told you sound good except your mother. So you start singing online and at family events then everyone laughs and boos your performances. You thought you could sing, your mom said you could sing but let’s face it she lied to you. She’s been lying to you ever since she told you about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
You wouldn’t have embarrassed yourself if someone had just told you the truth from the beginning. That’s how I look at rejection. Someone telling me the truth so I won’t keep embarrassing myself and wasting my time and everyone else’s time.
But just because you are terrible today doesn’t mean you can’t be terrific tomorrow.
You just have to work on your craft. And make the conscious effort to get better.
Practical Tips for Handling Criticism and Rejection
If you want to be a good writer, you have to suck it up and take the criticism and rejection and turn it into something positive. A teachable moment as they say. Remember you’re new and don’t have a lot of experience but if you keep putting in the reps, you will get better.
I had a trainer that would pull out her desk drawer and tell me to put my feelings in there. She was kinda ruthless with tough love but the lessons I learned from that lady sustained me for over a decade of leadership roles. And as you can see I still remember how she got my attention.
Takeaways
Here are the key takeaways for handling criticism and rejection as a writer:
- Understand that criticism and rejection are part of the writing journey; not everyone will like everything you write.
- Seek to understand the reasons behind criticism and feedback; if it’s not constructive, ignore it and move on.
- Remember that not every reader is your ideal reader; focus on those who appreciate your style and message.
- Reflect on feedback and be open to improving your writing skills; invest in courses or coaching if needed.
- View setbacks as opportunities for growth and motivation to become a better writer.
- Embrace criticism and rejection as teachable moments; use them to fuel your progress and development.