This is what I’ve been musing over. Critiques, reviews, and opinions. The thought splits in two intertwined directions. As I write this post, I realize it needs to be two posts, so I’m going to do something sneaky. Y’all can read the opinion part of the piece here, but have to hop on over to The Craft of Writing Fiction to see the other half of this thought (the half about critiques and reviews).

This half of the thought started becoming cohesive after I read a forum post and a corresponding FB post this morning. I won’t go into detail except to say that my support falls with the site owner in this case. What’s more important is the general.

So many of us are struggling to make something more of ourselves. To become a name, to be recognized for what sets us apart from the rest of the grunts. For a lot of us, recognition is a key motivator. But for possibly just as many of us, so is money. Being a starving artist may be cool in some circles, but we wouldn’t be working out butts off to create something other people liked if we didn’t want to be paid for it. I’m not saying that’s true of all authors, but I sure as hell wouldn’t mind reaching a point where I could quit my day job.

As part of our journey, we follow other people who have already made a living at this. It’s easier now than ever to do that. They’re all on Twitter, and Facebook, and have their own blogs. You can read agents give advice on what they are and aren’t looking for, find out what inspired your favorite author’s most recent book, and learn what either one had for breakfast.

We hang off their every word, hoping the next will be the lightbulb we need to raise us to their status in the publishing world. And then one of them says something unkind. Except it’s not unkind, it’s meant to be helpful advice, but they’re honest about it. They didn’t sugar-coat it the way your closest friends might have. There’s even a couple of agents who have built their brand around honesty.

And some people – not people I know personally, but I’ve certainly seen it, we all have – take it personally. They see it as an affront to who they are as a human being, instead of as the professional advice it’s meant to be. They decide that agent, author, whomever, has done them wrong and is not a human being, but a money grubbing fiend out to destroy the rest of us and keep all the wealth for themselves.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit extreme, but you get the point. Here’s the thing – those agents and authors – they’re people too. That’s how come they tweet about things like missing their flights, or needing coffee, or using music for inspiration. They’re just as human as you and I. The only difference is – they’ve worked really hard to be where they are, and they’re willing to share some of that knowledge.

It doesn’t matter how good you are – if you’re not willing to put in the effort outside of the creative, no one else will ever know. You’re not special because you said so, you’re special because you proved to the rest of us you could do it better.
/end rant

Sorry – not where I started out, but you get the point 🙂