Tempering Criticism

Writing can be intensely personal. Quite often, writers will put a lot of themselves into their writing, so it can be very difficult for them to view criticism objectively even when that criticism is delivered with good intentions and with the aim of helping them to improve. A big part of that has to do with how criticism can affect someone’s confidence.

Ask aspiring writers if they’ve shown their stories to their family, and I would hazard a guess that most of them have not. Even very good w...