Quote:
Originally Posted by M.T. Miles
CWatkinsNash
Once again what you say is correct. My comments were not intended as a criticism of your message but rather an expression of my own understanding of the frailties of the lesser authors/writers of the world.
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I should preface that I'm not arguing with you, but rather arguing against the notion that people should rein in their criticisms due to this perceived fragility.
As a mediocre musician and songwriter, I feel qualified to say that treating artists as delicate flowers does no favors to anyone. I'm not calling for folks to take up pitchforks against less-skilled writers or be mean to them, but I feel that the tolerance for these issues that I've been seeing is doing a disservice to everyone
including the writer.
I've seen firsthand what happens when someone is never given an honest appraisal of their level of talent. They can't grow as an artist, they can't balance their expectations, and they can't separate the ego from the art. (It could have easily happened to me, but my (former) low self-esteem balanced out my family's projected delusions of grandeur, and I came out a realist instead.)
The same thing happens when we give glowing reviews for books that are not well-written, or when we give someone a 5-star pat-on-the-head for just managing to write a book. Writing a book
is an accomplishment, and one that
should be acknowledged, but how can that writer grow if we overlook areas that need improvement?
All we're doing is making the marketplace even more of a slush pile, all for the sake of protecting someone's feelings over something that isn't even personal, no matter how personal it may feel at first. If someone wants to compete on the same virtual store shelves as Professional Big Name Author, then they need to handle themselves as professionals, and that includes dealing with negative criticism.