Anyone who has been writing, or blogging, for any amount of time knows the power of criticism. A good comment never fails to bring a smile to the face, and a bad one can make you feel like you have lost a close friend. If you are, however, proposing to write for a long time you have to master the art of dealing with criticism.
Before you can become better at dealing with criticism, it would be in your best interests to understand the three types of people who will usually comment on your work.
The “I don’t care” critic. These are people who have to say bad things about your work, regardless of its quality. This critic may be an enemy, a competitor, or just another blog hopper; he just has to find faults. In all likelihood, he will not even read your work. He comes across your write-up, and finds a place to vent his venom. He does so without even knowing what your work is about.
The “I care too much” critic. These are people who do not want to hurt your feelings, or perhaps they don’t want you to think of them in a negative light. They are mostly good of heart, and will only say good things about your blog. Even if your post is worthless – and you may know it too, you simply had to write that quick post – they will praise your work to no end. In the least they will leave a comment saying, “Nice post!”
The “I care” critic. These are people who will actually read your work. In all probability, they don’t know you. If at all they do, they know you through your writing. They will be ruthless in their criticism. If you are good, they will tel you so. If you are bad, they won’t mince any words. These are the type of people that should be commenting on your blog, and you should pay attention to them.
If you start paying attention to the first, or the second kind of critic, you are bound to end up feeling like either a wet sponge, or a cotton fluff. You, I am sure, would not want to be in either one of those two states.
What you would want instead is to know the true merit of your work, and ways in which you can improve it. Here, paying attention to the “I care” critic will help you in a big way. He is the critic that you should be looking out for. You would be lucky to have a large number of such critics, for listening to them will help you iron out the creases in your writing.
The first and the second kind of critic should simply be ignored. You can, if you want, respond to them politely on your blog. After all comments of any kind make you feel good on some level.Don’t they? But, when it comes to being affected by them, you simply shouldn’t be.
What do you think?