CRITICISM, WORTH THE GRIEF OR NOT?

"The main use in criticism is in showing what manner of man the critic is."  Frank Moore Colby

"I never read unpleasant things about myself." Truman Capote

"Criticism is the art wherewith a critic tries to guess himself into a share of the artist's fame."  George Jean Nathan

"For critics I care the five hundred thousandth part of the tythe of a half-farthing." Charles Lamb

Okay ... first of all, those of you who know me, know that my blogtalk radio show is something I started to promote other authors, right?  To give them one more venue in which to talk about their books.  I'm an amateur in speaking, don't like it at all, am so shy when it comes to speaking, can't even do it at a conference without almost falling apart. AND I am not a professional interviewer or radio personality and don't claim to be. My talent lies in the written word.  In fact the blogtalk radio series makes me nervous to even do it, and I don't do it very often, am only hoping it will help me get over the frights. Regardless, when I do interview authors, the intention is to draw attention to their work, not my damn delivery.  Right?

So ... when I received an email today criticizing my delivery:  timing - laughter - facts - whatever, on my BlogTalk Radio Show - A. Paul Bergen's segment, especially . . . well, as I always say, if it bothers you so much, don't listen to me, listen to the author.  Capiche?  

And another thing . . . the CD "When I Fall in Love" of me singing,  with David Manion on piano and synthesizer, was made for our friends and family. We know it isn't a professional CD, gee whiz, surprise surprise! and we don't pitch it as such. It's homegrown.  I happen to love to sing, get a kick out of it, so I put the songs up on my site, shows my personality to those interested. Again, if it pains you so much to hear them, don't listen. Pains me sometimes too.

Criticism is not fun to receive, we've all been the object of it at one time or another, and in some circumstances it's warranted, yes, I'll give you that. The people that do it for a living do it for notoriety and money. That's their job. Those people are incredulous and I don't pay any attention to them.  But then there are the others, the nit-pickers that have nothing else to do. So they pick on somebody. They give bogus reviews on Amazon, write hurtful posts, and all the above whenever they are allowed.  Now it's okay when it's coming from someone who is genuinely wanting to help a person, wanting to give constructive criticism where it counts and means something.

A professional disc jockey or radio/TV interviewer or vocalist . . . of course, all must go through proper training to reach their career goals and highest pinnacle and must endure constructive criticism from their teachers and mentors and employers.  Thank God I didn't choose those professions.  Thank God I chose the solitary profession I did choose, and I love it, and I work at it daily to perfect. Sales is my critic, thank you very much.

So how well do you handle criticism?  For me it hurts just a little while, and then I quickly swallow my pride and move on, continuing to do what I believe in, regardless of what's been said.

As a writer . . . I believe . . .

"There is probably no hell for authors in the next world ... they suffer so much from critics and publishers in this one."  C.N. Bovee

"One of the amusements of being old is that I have no illusions about my literary position ... I no longer mind what people think."  W. Somerset Maugham.

In my book, Maugham had it all figured out!