If you want an honest opinion, you need to learn to swallow your ego and realize that you might hear things you didn't want to hear, but more often than not, those people are only telling you those things to help you be a better writer. So let's get over your ego before people stop critiquing for you. None of us want to spent time helping a fellow writer when their ego gets in the way and they retaliate when we give an honest opinion. Trust me, you gotta choose here between having a big ego or achieving your dream with the help of others. Rarely does your over protective ego get you your dream.
Friday, April 5, 2013
E: Ego Issues
To all those people out there who are in love with your books (Which is all of us, let's admit it) I'd just like to remind you that when you ask for an honest opinion, and someone gives it to you, that is not the time for your ego to go crazy. You asked for honesty! Would you rather that people be dishonest and simply tell you what you want to hear? Or would you like the truth that might in the end help you to better your writing and improve your overall story? Honesty, at least from me and most people I've met in the writing business, is given with love and understanding. We've all been there. So accept what you asked for and remember that letting your Ego go crazy, spending time defending your book rather than making it better, and belittling those who said things you didn't like to hear about your work, is not a productive use of your time.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In critiquing, one huge thing I've learned over the years is to sandwich the bad in between the good. In other words, find what parts of the story you like and bring that out first, and then tell the author know what they can do to improve their story, what doesn't work, or what writing skills they need to improve on, and then end the critique with something that makes them feel good, thus making the critique palatable yet still useful.
ReplyDeleteDo I have an ego? Probably. I enter contests all the time, and I squeal with delight when I win. Yeah, I guess I do have an ego, don't I. We'll see how it holds up when I actually have a book out in the world that strangers review. My ego might not be able to take it. *gulp*
LOL that commented ties back so perfectly to my post 2 days ago for C: http://rebeccalamoreaux-anauthorinprogress.blogspot.com/2013/04/c-critiquing-with-compliments.html
DeleteAll about critiquing with compliments.
I think we all have egos when it comes to our stories. But in order to accept critiques, advice, and reviews, we gotta let it go a bit :)
Life would run more smoothly if we could all check our egos at the door :-)
ReplyDeleteJenny at Choice City Native