What’s worse than a concussion? For me, it’s being told someone didn’t like my work. I want everyone to be honest in reviewing my work, unless honest means they hated it, couldn’t connect with the voice or thought my main character sounded like a heartless sociopath. When we are brave enough to show our work to the world, we risk hearing the bad news along with the good. Even famous novelist Barbara Kingsolver admits that it’s hard for her to receive a bad review, as she says, “nobody wants to hear that their baby’s ugly.”
My rule has always been that if I get rejected (by faceless agent, editor, or reviewer) I can mope, rant, rave, cry or throw darts at the rejecter for one whole day. Then it’s back to work, no more self-pity. While my rule may not be for everyone, it’s safe to say all writers need a thicker skin than your average bear. Get mad, feel sad, find out how to improve your writing skills. Then put it behind you and write on. I’m still working on it, too, so I know how hard it is. You can drive yourself nuts trying to figure out where you went wrong, so don’t.
Writing Tip for Today: How do you handle negative feedback? Don’t try to decipher the soft-pedaling that comes with many rejection letters. Editors/agents are people and they don’t want to reject any more than you want to receive rejections. If you get rejections that state, “While your work has merit, it does not fit our needs at this time,” it only means, “No, thanks.” Put it in the pile with the others and keep writing and submitting.