Today’s Quote:
"Creative people are committed to risk. The creative person always walks two steps into the darkness. Everyone can see in the light...the real heroes delve in the dark."-Albert Einstein

I suppose creativity of any kind involves risk, especially for those bold enough to put their work out there for others to see. Which also means putting it out there for others to not only enjoy, but to criticize as well.

I’ve been fortunate so far. The rejections I’ve had haven’t been nasty, and the reviews for my books (so far, fingers crossed…) were all very good. Even Romantic Times magazine loved my first novel, Snowbound, and gave it four stars out of four and a half. Not bad for a first try.

However, I often feel as if I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, if you know what I mean. Last week, it did. I’d entered a contest for the first time. I didn’t really expect to win, but neither did I expect to come away from it with some of the comments I received on my manuscript.

In all honesty, some of the judges had excellent points. Their comments were precise and insightful. I appreciate that. But I’m still trying to figure out how one of them read the same fifteen pages as the other, considering her comment was that my hero was a pedophile.

Hello? Undercover agent, making a mental note that underage girls were being served in a certain bar. Yes, he noted how they were dressed, but he wasn’t lusting after them, for God’s sake. How, exactly, does that make the hero a pedophile? I’m still scratching my head over that one.

A friend of mine recently had a similar issue. A critique partner actually wrote “Psycho!” as a comment on her manuscript. First, the writer had no idea whether this person meant her as the author or the character…and second, I ask you – HOW IS THAT HELPFUL? How is a comment like that going to help the writer improve her craft?

In any case, it helps to remember that in our business, the critiques you receive are very subjective, whether they come from a judge, an editor, or a friend. Was I ticked when I read that? Of course. Am I going to let one anonymous person’s interpretation stop me from writing?

Not only no, but…well, you get the idea. We, as writers, can’t allow the highly subjective opinions of other people to affect our creative process. What one person loves, another will hate, and that’s just the nature of the beast. So, we suck it up, take what works for us, and move on. Enjoy the misery for a few moments. Wallow in it if you want, but don’t dwell on it for long, or it’ll suck the joy right out of your work. After you’ve ranted and raved and cursed the offender to the seventh level of hell, put on your big girl panties and deal with it. Discard it. Heck, write it on a piece of paper, wad it up and throw it away. Burn it. However you wish to handle it, eliminate that negativity from your mind.

And move on.

Write the best book you can. And then revise it and make it better.

Best,
Su

Okay, I’m going to give this blogging thing a go. Maybe it’ll at least give me something productive to do when I’m not writing. Or maybe it’ll give me an excuse not to write…

I suppose if I can think of 100K words to put in a novel, I can try to come up with something interesting to say here.

Stick around.

Best,
Su