Useless Criticism

I don’t mind criticism.  Honestly, I really don’t.  Reading tastes are subjective, and not everyone will like my work.

That said, if you’re going to criticize my writing, do it constructively.  I recently ran into someone who simply said, “I really didn’t like your book.”  When I pressed them on why, they didn’t have more of an answer beyond they didn’t like it.  That’s not criticism I can use to improve or figure out if I have a deficiency of some kind.  Telling me the plot developed too quickly or none of the characters were sympathetic are things I can use.  Disdain by itself isn’t.  There is little more frustrating than someone not giving out why they disliked what you wrote.  It’s like a kid saying they don’t want to eat deviled eggs because “They’re yucky.”  Do I need more mayonnaise?  Less?  Add cayenne or paprika?

People will criticize.  It’s what we do as humans.  But geez, people, tell us why so we can get better.  Less than that comes off as contrarianism.  Even if that’s a fact of life, that doesn’t make it less annoying.