(no subject)
Part of what I wrote as an 'open letter' to the writers' group that I mentioned in my last posting regarding 'certain people's' method of critiquing.
'I found myself fighting for my self-worth after a couple harsh critiques. I was told I had broken rules of writing; I immediately did a search for the ‘offending’ mechanics and found that they are part of what appears to be a natural debate in the writing world. And not Gospel as the critiques purported.
In my youth, if I had received such criticism, I would have been most disturbed, thought my writing must be the offal of the earth, and given up writing entirely. I’m grown now and see that people have differences of opinion.
Writing is a living thing. It changes year to year, decade to decade, millennia to millennia. Sometimes it is fashionable to do this; sometimes it is fashionable to do that. There are RARE ‘never do this’ statements in literature. Even grammar changes with the tides - who taught you, when did you learn, etc.
I looked up the word ‘critique’ and found that the meaning has changed so much (negative connotations) that it is considered ‘preferable’ to avoid using this word. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.)
Instead of writing a diatribe against the critiques, I decided to look up compassion and its synonyms: ‘These nouns mean humane and kind, sympathetic, or forgiving treatment of or disposition toward others. Mercy is compassionate forbearance: "We hand folks over to God's mercy, and show none ourselves" (George Eliot).’ The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Again, my deepest thanks to those who gave such wonderful, heartfelt, constructive criticism.'
'I found myself fighting for my self-worth after a couple harsh critiques. I was told I had broken rules of writing; I immediately did a search for the ‘offending’ mechanics and found that they are part of what appears to be a natural debate in the writing world. And not Gospel as the critiques purported.
In my youth, if I had received such criticism, I would have been most disturbed, thought my writing must be the offal of the earth, and given up writing entirely. I’m grown now and see that people have differences of opinion.
Writing is a living thing. It changes year to year, decade to decade, millennia to millennia. Sometimes it is fashionable to do this; sometimes it is fashionable to do that. There are RARE ‘never do this’ statements in literature. Even grammar changes with the tides - who taught you, when did you learn, etc.
I looked up the word ‘critique’ and found that the meaning has changed so much (negative connotations) that it is considered ‘preferable’ to avoid using this word. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.)
Instead of writing a diatribe against the critiques, I decided to look up compassion and its synonyms: ‘These nouns mean humane and kind, sympathetic, or forgiving treatment of or disposition toward others. Mercy is compassionate forbearance: "We hand folks over to God's mercy, and show none ourselves" (George Eliot).’ The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Again, my deepest thanks to those who gave such wonderful, heartfelt, constructive criticism.'