Want to know what the biggest secret for dealing with people who don’t like your writing is?
Ready?
THE ANSWER ISSSSSSSSS:
Eat cupcakes and mope around, thinking about how terrible your writing is!
Amazing answer, right?!
Yeah, yeah, that didn’t come out as funny as I was hoping, but that’s what I get for trying to have a dramatic opening. 😂 Also, it’s not a bad idea as long as you don’t let your grim emotions ‘actually’ take over.
I mean, because let’s just be honest…cupcakes are the best!
Okay, I’m WAY off track, so let’s get this train back on the rail! Another great way to deal with someone rejecting your work or calling it trash is to just ignore it. Notice how I said ignore ‘it’ and not ‘them’. Because realistically, it’s a lot easier to ignore someone’s comments about your writing than it is to ignore a person themselves.
And besides what if the person is a family member of a friend. (FRIEND TIP TIME: If your friend says something very discouraging about your writing, then you need to determine how you should move on from it. For instance, maybe you just don’t let them read your next book. Or if what they said really hurt your feelings, then you probably should confront them and let them know just that.)
Now when you’re letting others read your book it’s important to remember the intended audience of your book AKA who you wrote it for. This is going to be important when you first share your work and also when you receive your edits and feedback.
Why? Well, imagine you wrote this book about a girl who gets lost in a world full of marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate bars, and her goal is to collect all these ingredients and make smore’s for the whole town. What kind of people would you expect to read this book? I’m thinking probably middle-schoolers or even a bit younger than that.
Now let’s imagine you let your older brother read this book, and he doesn’t even finish it. Instead, he tells you it’s the most boring book he’s ever read, and that you need to grow up and write something that is actually entertaining.
You can respond a few different ways to this feedback, BUT what would be one of the RIGHT ways to respond? Well, this is where your intended audience comes into play. The first thing you need to realize about this situation was that you didn’t write the book for your brother. You wrote it for kids much younger than him.
So why would you expect him to love it?
Suppose you take your smore’s book and let your parents read it as well. They tell you it’s good and fun, but they think your younger sister, Clare, who just turned nine, might like it, so you give it a shot and let her read the book. Only two hours later, she bursts into your room, exclaiming how much she loved the book, and how she really hopes you’re going to write a second.
Look at the differences in the responses.
Another thing that might influence your reader’s response to your writing is whether or not they like reading. Maybe you just finished your first novel, and you’re super excited to let your best friend and family read it. But perhaps some of them don’t like reading, so they might not appreciate the book as well as others. Or maybe the book just isn’t the genre of books they normally read. This also will effect how much they enjoy your book.
What if the person reading your book doesn’t have any excuses and is just being plain mean about your writing? Simple solution: Stop letting them read your writing, AND stop letting what they say about your writing bother you.
Helpful criticism is nice…rude comments are not.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell which are which, but with some time and experience it’ll get easier.
-D.P.
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