Janet Muirhead Hill’s Advice on How to Use Criticism and How to Spring Back from Rejection: 5 excellent tips

Guest blogger Janet Muirhead Hill, author of the Miranda and Starlight series of six books and Danny’s Dragon, a story of wartime loss, is a member of Women Writing the West. As a seasoned writer she’s a good resource to give advice on how to use criticism and spring back from rejection. As a companion piece, you might like to read my essay on “The Art of Critique.” –JGR

In order to avoid letting a rejection or negative review bring their creativity to a halt, writers must:

1) Look closely at any criticism of their literary efforts,
2) Measure criticsm thoughtfully against their own purposes,
3) Apply what is constructive,
4) Discard all that isn’t constructive,
5) Move on to write again.

It is far better to have written and be criticized, than never to have written at all.

Of course, like many things in life, deflecting critical darts is easier said than done. It has taken me many years to get to the point that I can quite quickly stop the bleeding, step back, and analyze the criticism objectively.