Gave a talk this morning on “The Two Secrets to Getting Published.” 

Which are:  (1) learning how to handle criticism, and (2) being incredibly persistent.

Okay, maybe those aren’t exactly secrets.  But then what is?  (And, see, you found out without having to get up early and drive to a 7:30 breakfast.)

The learning-to-handle criticism thing is key, and applies to all big, hard, challenging, and difficult things, not just publishing a book.  Because anytime you step out of the humdrum and try to do something different, you’ll find yourself automatically on the receiving end of tons of advice, suggestions, ideas, opinions, comments, and criticism.

Those who can, do; those who can’t, criticize! 

Criticism can be deflating.  But it can also be inspiring.  The trick is to learn how to tell which comments are worth taking to heart and which are just off-the-wall carping that has more to do with the critiquer than with you or your work.

With no further ado, here is the trick:  Helpful criticisms are ones that, when you hear them, seem familiar to you.  You will feel a flash of recognition.  Maybe a little voice in the back of your head says, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you all along!”   Helpful criticisms feel “right.”  Helpful criticisms spur you to do more of whatever it is you do, and to do it better.

Unhelpful criticisms are the kind that, when you hear them, you think “Huh?  Really?”  They feel wrong and weird and awkward.  Upon closer examination, this kind of comment often seems to have much more to do with the criticizer than with you.

Telling the difference between the two is not always easy.  When you are in the early stages of trying your big, hard, challenging, and difficult thing, you may actually take every criticism you receive to heart.  You may start down a few wrong paths and then have to backtrack.  But if you keep trying (that’s that persistence thing), you eventually learn how to spot and take advantage of valuable criticism.  You will love and value your criticizers.  You will take them out to lunch.  You will buy them expensive coffee drinks.

And the weird, off-the-wall, “huh”-type criticisms?  Well, sometimes they can provide material for funny stories to tell later, once you have succeeded at your big, hard, challenging, and difficult thing.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 3rd, 2008 at 11:40 am and is filed under life at work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.