Comments | coneycat: "Toxic Criticism" reconsidered, and a bit on self-critique

coneycat

"Toxic Criticism" reconsidered, and a bit on self-critique

Jun 03, 2010 15:00

In a few entries I've spoken positively about a book called Toxic Criticism, mostly for the section on dealing with toxic criticism of one's own self. (I refer to this as the Toxic Room Mate In My Head, your terminology may differ.) I recently got the book out of the library again and it turns out I have reservations ( Read more... )

rants, writing

Comments 9

jongibbs June 3 2010, 22:25:57 UTC

'If you do not consider criticism of your story, and I mean think about it specifically, you will not learn how to tell good advice from bad'

Exactly. It's not always right, but it should never be dismissed out of hand, especially if you sought the critique in the first place.

Great post! :)

coneycat June 4 2010, 11:24:50 UTC

Thanks!

And yes, crits aren't always right, or useful, but if you never consider them, you'll never learn to recognize a useful one when you get it. And it's a hard thing to learn so it is important to work at it!

wldhrsjen3 June 4 2010, 13:29:26 UTC

As always, I <3 you. This post is so full of honest truth and wisdom - I hope you don't mind if I add it to memories, because I imagine I'll need the reminder when I start shoving stories out the door.

coneycat June 4 2010, 13:50:51 UTC

Thank you so much! Also, please remind me I said this when I also start submitting again!!

msstacy13 June 4 2010, 14:54:30 UTC

-I ask charity of no man.
-Then you aren't very likely to get it, are you?

But, yes, you do have to figure out
whether you're hearing from Spike Lee
or Spike Milligan...

oh, yeah... msstacy13 June 4 2010, 15:08:28 UTC

"When people criticize my stories, it helps me to imagine horrible
things happening to them. After that, I take a walk, and ask myself if
there's any truth at all to their criticism." --Persimmony Glitchet

Re: oh, yeah... coneycat June 4 2010, 15:10:35 UTC

Heh. And with practice, it's easier to spend less time imagining horrible things and more time looking for truth. At least if the criticism seems reasonable. Or particularly if I asked them for it.

Re: oh, yeah... msstacy13 June 4 2010, 15:28:30 UTC

If you write crime stories
or war stories,
the horrible things you imagine
can become quite useful in themselves.

perhaps you've seen these already-

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