The Place For My Writers Notes

Original posting 13 May 2009

Writers' Digest, October 2004, pages 26 to 33, has a collection of short "nuggets of wisdom" related to getting published. Maria Schneider is the author of the compilation. Take a deep breath, and here we go:

"Learn to accept feedback -- not because you should always do what others suggest, but because you learn to be less defensive and neurotic about what you're trying to accomplish." Elizabeth Maguire

Comments, critique, feedback -- getting the dialogue going and listening, paying attention to what the other person is saying both explicitly and implicitly. It's hard. It can be scary, and too often there is a tendency to see that comment as some sort of an attack. Learning to be thankful for any response, and to look beyond the initial reaction of protection... assume that what the other person is saying is their honest opinion. Try to understand it, to think why they would have said that. And remember that your work, once it's out there in public to look at, is not you. Pull back on the ego involvement, and admit that sure enough, there are misspellings, there's a section missing, some parts aren't as clear as they seemed when you were writing them -- it can be amazing what we miss until someone else points it out.

It's a gift. Someone took the time to read it, and to try to tell you how they reacted, what they saw. You don't have to agree with them, but thank them for that gift of time and effort. Learn what you can from it, consider what if anything you want to do with that piece, and take a deep breath.

Then write some more!

(Hum? That's ten of these little missives? I wonder if... do you suppose anyone is reading them?)