My Thoughts on Criticism

When engaging in anything creative like writing, visual arts, crafts, etc., you will inevitably encounter criticism. All criticism can hurt, but only constructive criticism is worth listening to. It can be hard to listen to comments regarding the products of your creative musings. You put your time and passion into something and you are ready to show the world and then somebody has the nerve to criticize your work. How dare they!

I have come to terms with this and want to share how I have learned to embrace criticism.

Separate Yourself From Your Work

When the work is done, take your passion and sit it in the corner facing the wall. You need to be able to take a step back and look at your work from the outside with fresh eyes. Try to find where you can improve your work, what’s working, what isn’t, or what need changed. Give your work a once over before you share it with anyone.

Your Feelings Do Not Matter

You have to ignore that nagging urge to get defensive at feedback. It does you no good to get emotional. Sure you will want to roll your eyes and you might even feel hurt by some criticisms–this is natural. Just tell those feelings to go away and mind their own business, you have work to do.

Not All Criticism Will Be Useful

With any piece of feedback, you want to examine what points may or may not be valid. Here is where looking at your work from a detached point of view enables you to better determine which ideas to work with. Some points may not be useful to the context of your vision. It is up to you to make that determination. By not taking criticism personally and looking at your work objectively, you will have an easier time examining feedback and taking only the most helpful bits with you.

The More Eyes The Better

The more feedback you can get about your work will go a long way in showing you things you overlooked or haven’t even thought of. It’s inevitable, you can’t notice or think of everything. You share your work with others not to get a pat on the back. You share your work and encourage feedback to make your work better. Learn to love criticism. It is your friend.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.