Famous Failures and Presumptuous Critics

I couldn't fail but notice that many of the hugely successful people who "failed at first" got extremely hard, categorical critiques, that condemned them to failure, without appeal. I wonder what would have happened, had they trusted those authority figures, had they believed in the finality of those words? Or rather, how many great creators and achievers have been struck down while their will was still tender and weak, by someone they thought knew what he was saying?

So, next time someone tells you that you are worthless as a writer, that you should give up now, that you are wasting your time... Keep those examples in mind. If they tell you that you are no Winfrey or Lennon or Einstein, tell them this much: "That may well be true. But you cannot know that, and to presume otherwise is the height of arrogance. The interesting thing about there being room for improvement is that it can be filled."

DISCLAIMER (and I aplogize for the italics and excessive emphasis, but I wanted to be very clear): This is not a license to ignore critics and critiques, nor to put yourself on the same level as the Great. You are probably not great yet, and, right now, you probably suck, you probably suck so much you're having trouble finding editors because of how unrewarding helping you with your work is, at this point. That definitely doesn't mean you'll suck forever, not if you do what it takes. No one has the authority tell you to give up, no one has the knowledge to say that you can't make it, and, if they tell you that, if they say that, tell them they can shove it. But never neglect to take criticism, not if you actually want to be great.

edited 5th Sep '12 3:41:37 AM by TheHandle

Hey, did you know that preaching your personal opinion as gospel convinces no one who is not already inclined to that position, and serves no purpose save to annoy those who are not by its blatantly working backwards from a conclusion?

Sorry, I did not mean to imply that I thought that I could not be wrong about this.

However, there is no need for such an acerbic tone, unless what you are aiming for is to heat the conversation in such a way that the mods will be tempted to lock the discussion prematurely.

People are able to consider arguments independently of whether they were put together to reach a conclusion they do not think is true: the Genetic Fallacy is one Logic Failure of the many one wants to be wary of, if one wants to attain truth.

You seem to think I wrote the bottom line of my thesis first, saying "and therefore...", and then went back to the top of the page and started looking for clever arguments to back it up. Believe it or not, hat is not how I think, make opinions, or weigh evidence. It is also not the topic, unless you want to talk about critics who turned out to be wrong, and used the aforementioned method to reach their conclusions.

Qualifying a work is a subjective matter. Predicting the success of a work or person is a gamble, and one should tread very carefully when doing those. One can never escape the chance of being wrong on topics so complex and subtle as the quality of art and how it will be recieved, but saying "I do not expect you to succeed" rather than "You will fail" can make all the difference between being merely proved wrong, and being proved to be something rather worse ("dangerous" comes to mind, but it's not quite the right qualifier).

edited 5th Sep '12 12:52:35 AM by TheHandle

Night, if you wish to complain about another troper's post, do it in a holler to the mods.

"Stop posting stuff like this" is not your say around here. Regardless of how full of shit you think the post is.

@Handle

I actually agree with you, it didn't seem to me that you were "preaching".In fact I think it is something everyone must hear.

I am doing a research for that very topic as my next proyect.It is about how to deal with criticism.In fact I think I will use your stuff on my research (I have made research so far for hated works like twilight and hated artists like Justin Bieber).

For example did you knew that Tolkien was disliked on his time and even a friend of his made fun of his elves?.

There are few things that I hate more than people crushing other's dreams.

edited 5th Sep '12 6:18:21 AM by FallenLegend

I don't know if it's so much that famous people are more likely to get crushing critiques like that but more that those are inevitable.

I also think it's rather insane to expect people to continue on making masterpieces with absolutely no encouragement.

edited 5th Sep '12 6:24:28 AM by ohsointocats

Actually, research shows that, once great achievers have attained a certain level, encouragement stops being a vital necessity and becomes more of a welcome bonus: a solid, intrinsinc sense of their own worth settles in. Nevertheless, even the greatest never stop seeking teachers: while the teachers may not outperform them, they will provide an external viewpoint that will help them figure out what they may be doing wrong, and how to do better.

edited 5th Sep '12 7:32:07 AM by TheHandle

And you think that anybody here has a sense of their self-worth when none of us have writing even worth critiquing by your own admission?

Obviously not, that's why I'm telling the other beginners here never to let that kind of acerbic critique get them down, and that, if anyone tells them to give up on the grounds of sucking now, they should disregard them completely.

Getting an editor takes work. You have to release your crap, and find someone who both likes it and knows enough about writing that they can help you improve, and it ain't easy. Once you've secured one, though, it's a great leap forward.

I also recommed the Ben Franklin method, which was invented by Ben Franklin, is awesome, and helped him become awesome, him and others.

I imagine that very page can be used as a good antidote to something like this.

edited 5th Sep '12 10:09:37 AM by QQQQQ

I don't know. As I have never been able to find an editor, I am forced to conclude that I have never improved.

You have merely been unlucky. Have you tried writing fanfiction?

That editor's POV was quite sympathetic and understandable. The Aesop is, don't get a professional's opinion until you are ready for it, and, once you are, pay them at least, even a fraction of the normal fee, and show modesty and appreciation.

edited 5th Sep '12 10:26:52 AM by TheHandle

Yes. Hundreds of thousands of words of it.

And you didn¡t find a faithful proofreader who digged your style?

Nope.

Well, PM me your work, I'll see if I can help at all.

Perhaps. But I can't help the feeling of bitterness as I was reading those lines of barbed prose, that to me he looks like a rectum in the picture provided, and that I wouldn't feel much too honoured if he were to read my writing. He makes it seem like a total chore. That's no good.

edited 5th Sep '12 11:10:56 AM by QQQQQ

He's a Threshold Guardian, of course he's cranky from repeated encounters with newbies with bad attitudes that eroded his soft parts until there was nothing but hard emptiness left. He has seen many coming at him saying "I want to be a hero!", and then deonstrated not having the moral fortitude required. Anyone would get cranky.