Critics

You slave away for possibly years on a work that now has your blood and sweat in every page.  You sacrifice family time and maybe even work time because you can't control when you're inspired.  You finally finish re-reading for the 27th time to make sure you have edited everything correctly.  You manage to work with your publisher on a great looking cover, after ditching the first 30 ideas.  You have your book published and now for the first time in a long while you can smile because you feel like you accomplished something you can take pride in.  Sales even start strong which  means that you start working on the sequel right away.  All is right with the world until.....

You hear from your publisher or a friend that there is a Critic who printed a review on your book.  The word review can be foreboding in itself.  Review? Someone that reads books for a living has read your new masterpiece?  What could they possibly think?  

They obviously think that it is as wonderful as the many who have purchased it.  They must sing the praises of the perfect characterization and intriguing sub-plots!  They must rejoice at how masterfully you pieced together the continuity and graphic details of each and every locale!  Surely, they must be in awe of the fact that you did not overuse the dictionary to describe your setting!  Of course they are mesmerized by the twists and turns that they themselves never saw coming?  Nice try.

Instead, they hammer your overuse of the word, "literally"; dissect the weak plot line;  and they skewer your predictable ending.  Welcome to the world of criticism!

If you're shocked when you get your first real review it's probably because most of the people that have been telling you how wonderful your book is, are most likely your family and close friends.  Don't get me wrong, maybe your book is really good.  You have to remember that the major critics are in bed with certain publishers, just like most major movie critics are in bed with certain movie studios so  they are biased.  That's probably not the case with your critic.  Maybe he or she is just taking an unbiased look at your masterpiece.

Either way, you need to look at negative criticism with enthusiasm.  Yes, I said enthusiasm.  You have the opportunity to see your work through someone else's eyes.  Someone's eyes who aren't related to you, or who haven't known you for the past twenty years.  They are using what I like to call "Reader's Eyes".

"Reader's Eyes" means reading the book, as any other reader who doesn't know you would read it.  When you receive constructive criticism, make sure that you actually listen to the criticism.  Maybe someone has noticed something that can help you in the future. Here's the important part: You have to read the criticism the same way the critic read your work.   Don't read what isn't there.  Don't read too much into it that you lose the intended meaning.  Don't dismiss it because you think the critic is stupid.  If you reject any criticism then you might as well give up writing because it tells me that you don't want to learn and you think you know more than anyone reading your work.

I always ask for honest feedback because I want to know what each person thinks.  These people took the time to spend their hard earned money to buy something that will possibly give you a great career.  They are taking the time to read the book that took so much of your time.  They need to be heard.

So encourage everyone to give you feedback and let them know that whether they liked your book or not, you need to hear their thoughts so you can improve as a writer.  I will always do this, no matter how popular my writing becomes; I suggest you do the same.