Accept Criticism

Had a person respond to a critique of their story by saying that he planned on 'berating me.' He however thought better about it. Now, I can be cruel in my critiques, but I was not cruel to him. I gave him what I felt was a solid appraisal of his writing. It takes work to write, and to have that effort said to be inferior does hurt. To get good one however needs to understand that others might have a clearer vision than oneself.

We all have our styles and tastes in what we want in a story. The ideal state is where you are writing what you want and how you want with others simply remarking on their opinion of the action and characters. I will admit that I prefer a style not acceptable by modern publishers, so I had to learn to write in a different manner. I have some old stories that I have not edited, because I prefer the way I wrote them more than the way I would write them today. I however accept that I am writing for others to read them, so I presently write in the manner that they would want them.

I had to listen to others to make my writing worthy of getting people to read it without complaint. I did not like some of the things I was told, but instead of 'berating them,' I thought better about it. I am a better writer because of it, and I believe the same will apply to authors that listen to the wisdom of others.