How to Respond When Your Articles Get Criticized

I broke my own edict a couple of days ago. I had pledged to myself that I would not allow myself to get upset over any negative comments regarding any article I had written. Since writing for Associated Content for the past year, I had managed to keep that pledge ...that is, until very recently.

An article that was essentially a "fluff" piece about wedding songs received what I believe were two unfairly critical remarks from a couple of readers who made brief, but ugly statements regarding it. According to them, my list of songs "sucked" and one of the critics, who evidently has a short attention span, went on to chastise me for writing an article that had more than one page.

Maybe it was the 107 degree heat, maybe it was my hormones, but, for whatever reason, I reacted by writing my own self- defensive remarks in response. Quite honestly, I was irritated as all get-out, even though the commnenters at hand were actually not even worth sneezing about. Had I written something more controversial, like an article about politics or religion or Paris Hilton, I would have been prepared for hearing from others who failed to agree with me or who were vehemently opposed to the views I expressed., but all this grief over a wedding song list?

Of course, I felt good immediately after posting my thoughts to these critics, but that feeling lasted only a good fifteen minutes before I regretted that I had wasted my valuable time trying to "get back" at two individuals who didn't even have the courage to identify themselves, but left their catty remarks anonymously.

By reacting as I did, I gave them attention they did not merit.

We writers tend to think that what we write, whether it's a serious, thought-provoking piece or a fluff piece or a product review about cat food, is a little part of us, so we can sometimes take it very personally when negative things are said about our "creative projects".