“And, of course, with the birth of the first artist came the inevitable afterbirth- the critic.” – Mel Brook’s “Birth of the Art Critic.”

Getting a publisher interested in my first novel, Voice on the Prairie, was a fulfillment of years of hard work, rejection letters, and dreams-come-true. I felt like little kid the night before Christmas waiting on my box of books to hit the streets.

Naturally, the first 3 responses to my new book were all negative.

Artists don’t like to be confined to rules, but [Tweet “there is one rule that all artists will agree on; if you create something, someone will find fault with it.”] From the time we let the crayons slip outside the line, someone pointed out where they think we went wrong.

However, I’ve learned that if I can identify what kind of critic has launched a grenade  to blow up my creation, then I can react to the criticism in a positive manner. The adolescent retort of, Oh, yeah, well so are you!” just doesn’t work anymore.

Different kinds of critics:

The Ignorant Critic is like the sports fan on his third six pack yelling at the wide receiver to run faster.  They don’t know what they’re talking about but assume that if they’re loud enough, someone will think they are an expert.

The Destructive Critic will usually lie first by saying things like, I want to give you some constructive criticism. The destructive critic points out your faults without any suggestions or solutions for improvement.

The Constructive Critic seldom, if ever, uses the word constructive criticism while talking to you about becoming better. They’ll use words like challenge, or suggestion, or encourage.  A good critic can walk you around yourself to see a blind spot in such a way that you choose to become better without any sense of shame for not being perfect.

The Vindictive Critic is someone who wants to deliberately hurt you with criticism. Yet, they often say they are being constructive.

The Comparative Critic likes to compare you in a negative way to someone else or to them. They can do it better than you because, well, they think they’re better than you. Or they compare you to some superstar.

The Jealous Critic is hard to spot because they’re sneaky; no one will ever admit they are jealous of you. But they point out your faults, not so much because you’re wrong, but because they want to be superior to you. Their criticism is more about their inadequacy than it is about your faults.

The Unhappy Critic is never happy with anything – especially themselves – so they criticize anything their unhappiness runs over each day.  Avoid these people like the plague.

 How to react to criticism

Regardless of the motive of the criticism, it is always good to examine the truth of the criticism.

  1. Is it true?
  2. If it’s true, what steps do I take to improve?
  3. Do I really care what that person thinks?
  4. How can I turn negative criticism into a positive force in my life?

Some folks say I just need thicker skin. I’m not sure I want thicker skin, but I do want deeper roots.

[Tweet “Knowing the difference between excellence and perfection keeps a pen in the hand of the writer”]and the brush in the hand of the artist.

If you happen to read my book, would  you please be so kind as to go to Amazon and post a review? Amazon has an algorithms that measure comments and, the more reviews I get, the more Amazon advertises my book.


 

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