Self-Esteem Killers
Depression. Anxiety. Agoraphobia. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
As if ALL THAT wasn't enough to make me feel like a pile of garbage on the best of days....
Today, peer reviews for my first poem in my Poetry Writing class. Wanna hear some of my classmate's critiques?
~ ending could be stronger
~ a little too boring
~ language didn't stick out to me
~ use different adjectives
~ cliche, cliche, cliche!
Wow, could you have been more ambivalent to my teetering emotions? Probably not. I suppose they could have just been outright hostile - I'd actually prefer that. Gives me something to fight against and get angry about. But this....well....this just makes me want to throw in the towel and never write a single piece of prose. Ever. Again.
I know I'm being irrational. I know this. I can't help it. Sometimes it's the little things that have the most power to break us down.
As if ALL THAT wasn't enough to make me feel like a pile of garbage on the best of days....
Today, peer reviews for my first poem in my Poetry Writing class. Wanna hear some of my classmate's critiques?
~ ending could be stronger
~ a little too boring
~ language didn't stick out to me
~ use different adjectives
~ cliche, cliche, cliche!
Wow, could you have been more ambivalent to my teetering emotions? Probably not. I suppose they could have just been outright hostile - I'd actually prefer that. Gives me something to fight against and get angry about. But this....well....this just makes me want to throw in the towel and never write a single piece of prose. Ever. Again.
I know I'm being irrational. I know this. I can't help it. Sometimes it's the little things that have the most power to break us down.
It's the risk you run when you expose your work to other people: being criticized. Writers hear even nastier stuff from their editors :) writing is amazing, but unless one keeps their works to themselves, the price for that is having to accept criticism.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind that everyone has different tastes and what might be "boring" or "cliché" to someone, might be amazing for someone else. I'm sure your poem wasn't that bad - and by the way they could've worded their judgment in a kinder way...!
Oh yeah, I know all about harsh criticism. I once attempted to become a published author. That's a rigorous and sometimes disheartening procedure. ^_^
DeleteI guess this just irked me so much because these are my peers and most of them typically write worse than I do. I guess it just felt like a personal insult than any real dislike to my work itself.
Don't forget that a many people who are insecure about their own work will be overly critical about yours in order to bolster their self-esteem. I don't think simplistic judgments like this really say anything about you as a poet.
ReplyDeleteOne of my friends did a creative writing course and when they did peer reviews they were done in person and moderated by a tutor to ensure that the criticism was constructive; perhaps you could suggest that this would be a better method for everyone?