Being creative means facing a lot of rejections. Editors, clients, critics all can draw blood with remarks that often fail to acknowledge the human frailties of the artist, that maximize his shortcomings, and which generally minimize his achievements. (And artists don’t help matters by often being moody and aloof, hiding behind an I-could-care-less facade.)

Those writing reviews often seem intent on destroying. At their worst they are happy only when jealously belittling those with talent. (One old saw has noted that, “Those who cannot, become critics.”)

So here’s a fact of life: No matter how talented a person may be, some people won’t like their style, will be jealous, or will be hypercritical. Sadly these critics will then deride the work and dismiss it as worthless.

To continue creating in the face of these slings requires a lot of drive and belief in ones self. No doubt the path an artist must tread is lined with the corpses of those ambushed by thoughtless critics who lie in wait for unsuspecting victims.

Fortunately a few creative hearts may have the gumption to dodge these barbs and continue on.

My advice to critics of all stripes is to try to remember that the person you write about has feelings, and perhaps is not nearly as thick skinned as you have become. And that you can do untold harm with just one or two ill-conceived words.

And if you’re a creative person, learn to pay attention to criticism that is valid but also discover ways to disregard useless, thoughtless, or even malicious criticism, learning to let it run off your back like water from a duck.

One friend who is an author developed an interesting strategy for dealing with critics. When he gets a bad review or someone bad-mouths his work, he goes to Amazon.com, looks up a book by his favorite author, and reads the worst reviews people have given the book. Invariably some ignorant clod will spew his venom over a beautifully written piece of literature.

My friend then tells himself, “See how well this critic judges the value of good work? Much the same thing has happened to me.”

If my friend is feeling really bad, he recalls the most poorly written book he’s read, locates it on Amazon.com, and reads the most glowing reviews he can find there. “See how people overvalue poor writing?” he tells himself.

While many critics are on the mark, sometimes they are horribly wrong. And any creative person who pays attention to the snakes in this latter group will be steered in the wrong direction by their venom.

Creative people must learn to listen to their own criticism and not be swayed by those slaves to the conventional who remain clueless as to what constitutes exceptional work.

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When not sniping at critics, Duncan Long works as a freelance book cover illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See his cover illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
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