TAKING CRITIQUE LIKE A MAN

[Parrhesia]

RULE 1: The critic has as much of a valid opinion as you do.

RULE 2: Nothing is set in stone until it's published. There's pretty much always a shot at rewriting it.

RULE 3: Anyone who is literate can critique you.

RULE 4: Critique is A Good Thing. Its objective is to IMPROVE your writing.

RULE 5: White knights pandering to you may inflate your ego, but they don't do a damn thing for your writing.

RULE 6: The critic, in a way, loves you. And wants to make you better.

RULE 7: Or they want to kill you, but if that happens you're probably bad enough to deserve it.

RULE 8: Don't expect everyone to feel the same way you do.

RULE 9: Whatever happens, TAKE THE BLOW AND DO NOT FLINCH. REWRITE THE FUCKING THING AND IF IT'S BETTER THEN THAT IS ALL AND WELL

RULE 10: Your objective isn't to fulfil your own fantasies of sex with another man's protagonist. It's to get better. So you can fulfil fantasies of sex with your own protagonist, if that's your objective.

RULE 11: If you stagnate and refuse to change despite all the valid criticism in the world? You aren't a writer any more.