Criticism sucks but it’s necessary if we’re to grow as writers. Unless you’re content to keep your work in a notebook in closed drawer, you’ll have to encounter your audience. In fact, for the creative act to reach its full potential, it must make a connection with someone other than the artist. You must form that relationship and, as in any relationship, you must steel yourself for rejection.
In a post on the Stage 32 blog, psychotherapist Mihaela Ivan Holtz offers her advice for adopting a healthier view of criticism. The short version:
- Develop a capacity to tolerate challenging feelings. Meditation, mindfulness, and journaling can help you accept and process feeling unseen, criticized, ignored, or shamed.
- Practice separating your emotions from your audience’s. You can stay inspired by your work, even when others are not. Let the audience have their feelings.
- Set emotional boundaries around your art. While your art is a piece of your emotional expression, you should also give yourself space to view it objectively. This practice can help you allow others to have that same objective experience.
