Hi writers,
I have been under the weather all this week after showing my work to a person I thought would love it, instead they shot my dream down in seconds using words like 'this really isin't great, honestly who would want to by this?' Now i'm left wondering if he really did have a point, but I dont know what I should do.... Give up or try again.
I can understand you're feeling low. Showing our work to someone can make us feel vulnerable enough anyway - then to have it shot down with phrases like your friend used is heartbreaking. I am interested to know whether they offered you any constructive criticism as well - or do they have an ulterior motive for discouraging you? To simply say 'why would anyone buy this?' is not helpful in any way at all. Writing is like any art form - it is subjective and you are always going to have people who don't like your work, just as I am sure there are writers you may not enjoy. What you have to remember is that you have a story to tell and keep moving forward, somewhere out there are people just waiting to hear it.
Don't give up! :-)
There's always criticism, the point is you don't give up and keep moving forward. The criticism you got is just from one person. If 1 out of 10 people criticize you that means 9 out of 10 like your work. You just gotta keep going on, improving your work with out giving up. This is like a personal motto of mine- Never, ever give up. I suggest you steel your nerves and like Disney says it- KEEP MOVING FORWARD! :) Good luck.
When you start writing you're running on pure talent, nothing else. So each and every compliment is raw talent alone. This is a good thing! You can teach someone the rules but you can't teach them talent.
Then you start to learn how to put a piece of fiction together - showing not telling, getting rid of those naughty adverbs etc. That's when you start really learning to write. Sometimes when people criticise they are just helping you along with the rules, and following them (at least to start with) does help you format your work.
That's when the learning curve kicks in - when you start realising what you're doing wrong all you can see are the mistakes. That's ok. It shows you're improving, even though you're wringing your hands and thinking it's all terrible. After that you start working hard on fixing everything and it takes you forever.
But soon you'll be flying again, and raw talent mixed with a bit of training is the perfect combo.
Don't give up!