Painfully harsh critique

TheCaleb said:

A lot of people gave you good advice. Here are my thoughts. For years and years people raved about what I wrote. It over built my confidence.

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Ditto. I won contests, got stuff accepted, and generally speaking got my ego stuffed to the point where it's a miracle it didn't rupture and kill me.

Then I started writing and submitting to SF magazines. And one day, in the mail, comes not a form rejection, but a very carefully written verbal bomb, designed to destroy my very soul.

Thank goodness.

When I read the original post I thought "That sounds just like me." And it infuriated me, made me wonder how I ever got that far, and made me not want to write.

I came back to it about three months later, and said "You know, the editor's an idiot about EVERYTHING except this one part." That repeated every few weeks. "That editor is mostly an idiot, except for this part."

I cringe these days when I read what I submitted. I'll probably cringe ten years from now reading my latest "polished" work.

Take your crit and sit on it. Just wait. Go write something else and keep those fingers moving, and come back. Understand that praise doesn't help you get stronger. Then take it as a challenge and go after it.

You can do it.

I think when it comes down to it, opinions are like...noses. (nicest way I can put it) Everyone has one, and usually they differ.

If the critiques were about grammar/syntax then take it and fix what needs to be. If it was about the story, have a few close friends read it and have them see her critiques and see what they think of them. Finally, you may want to take it to somebody who can give an unbiased, yet professional opinion. I'd suggest an English teacher at a school that you were close to. Otherwise? Never give up on your dream. If something that one person said was enough to make you consider giving up, maybe you have to consider if writing is actually your dream or not.

It's just ONE opinion. Every single book out there was rejected by somebody at some point. Her being published and an editor doesn't make her word THE word. She's just one person like you and me.

No offence, if she knows exactly what it takes to get it 'right', she wouldn't be earning money REVIEWING books but too busy WRITING them. Oh, and I ALWAYS give pros and cons in reviews. Always. She must've liked something!

I got a book refund and felt like crap, but sold three after. For every one who doesn't like your work, someone else does. Don't give up or those readers who'll love your work won't get the chance to see it. That's a shame.

Don't rewrite again unless they take you on first. Your time is just as important as hers.