Mr. Ridiculous' Guide To Handling Criticism

-GUIDE-

Why did I write this guide?

First off in my experience on Wattpad I have discovered that criticism is not well received, neither good or bad criticism.

1. My book is perfect I don't need any criticism!!!

First off your book is not perfect. No one and I mean NO ONE writes a one shot novel. Not even your favorite authors in the whole wide world. It takes years to write a novel. Is this discouraging? Yes. But should it stop you? NO!!

2. Ok so I need to accept criticism, how should I go about this?

First join a book club. Let me first tell you that professional authors spend alot of money to have their books edited. So be grateful that book clubs will do it for free. This is tricky because alot of people in book clubs just want votes for their own book. This is not bad just deal with it. But there are those who will give you good criticism.

3. How will I distinguish good criticism from bad?

I'm glad you asked. The comments that hurt the most will more than not be the comments you should listen to.

EXAMPLE: "This is riddled with grammitcal errors. So much that I can't comment on all of them."

Friend that person right away! Most people will tell you. "Oh other than a few missing commas here and there I don't see anything wrong." This may sound harsh but those people will not help you. Yes it's nice to hear people praise your book but it's not going to make your book any better.

4. Why does criticism hurt so damn much?

Well everyone's book is their baby. And everyone wants to defend their baby. You invested a lot of time into your baby. Guess what, your baby isn't perfect. For a book to be good it has to be torn apart. Think of it this way. The Phoenix rises from its ashes to be reborn. Your book must go through this same process. I promise that if you do this your book will become better.

5. But my book makes perfect sense to me why should I change it?

Of course your book makes sense to you...you wrote it. But for everyone else whose out of the loop it's going to take sometime. So be patient look for comments that criticize the same error. This is a good indicator to things that should be changed.

6. How should I handle criticism?

What's always worked best for me is having a sense of humor and more specifically the ability to make fun of your own book. The process of making your book good will be long and arduous. But if you start out with a good sense of humor and alot of patience your book will be good.

7. Grammar vs. Content, huh?

Let me say right now that content is a second if you have bad grammar. Your book will NOT make it to the features section if your grammar is not perfect. You could have the best story ever and it means nothing if people don't understand what the hell you are trying to tell them.

8. What makes me qualified to give this advice?

For starters I am guilty of every single one of these mistakes I have listed. I was stubborn and didn't want to listen to other people's advice. But when I started to I realized how much it actually helped I started enjoying getting critiqued.

9. My grammar and punctuation is already superb so I don't need any help.

It is possible you are indeed very good at editing yourself. But know that there is always someone better at it than you. Besides take some of the burden off of your own shoulders and allow others to find what you might miss.

10. So what did we learn?

Hopefully alot and if you already knew all this well congrats because it took me awhile to figure it out. So the thing you need to walk away from here remembering the most is this.

It is good to get criticism!!!! Your book won't get any better without it. I guarantee it!

Hey guys thanks for reading this guide. If you have good tips as well please comment I will make sure to add them to the guide. I really hope this helped. :)

Also go to my MR. RIDICULOUS' REVIEWS if you want your book reviewed. Trust me you won't regret it. :)