Nathan Bransford, TVWriter™’s favorite publishing know-it-all, shares his feelings about the kind of criticism that drives this TVWriter™ minion positively insane…so that neither you nor I will go ballistic.
Don’t listen to condescending feedback
by Nathan Bransford
My editing client Saranyan landed a literary agent last week and he posted a really great thread about persevering in the face of negative feedback, starting with this post:
About ten years ago, an editor told him something along the lines of “If you have to try to write #kidlit, then at least learn to be good at it…”
There are some editors out there, even well-credentialed ones, who are overly harsh in their feedback and overly confident in their opinions.
I always try to be direct and honest with my edits, but I also try to be humble about my views. I recognize that I’m just one viewpoint, and it’s one that’s inevitably a product of my background and experiences.
But it’s also because I’ve seen plenty of writers grow through time. Including, well, myself.
I did not start off as a promising writer. I wasn’t accepted to advanced creative writing courses, and my professors probably would have tabbed me as one of the least likely to eventually have their novels published. But I persevered….
Read it all at nathanbransford.com
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