How do you handle critics?

I could just agree with Deni and leave it at that. However, I already wrote this post before I read his. So this is kind of a rerun of what he said, but it bears repeating really.


One of the worst, no THE worst part about the internet is that it has the tendency to create these little "safe" zones for "people like us" where everybody is all sweet, nice and happy and everybody's an artist and people praise each other no matter how bad they are at what they're doing. Deviantart, Youtube, music sites, fanfic sites, certain blogs etc., this is ALL over the internet.

What people don't realize is that praise is THE most stifling thing for any artist, no matter what field. Even unwarranted or incorrect criticism is far, far more constructive than blind praise. When people tell you "wow, you're doing great!" does that make you want to improve, or go back and listen for your mistakes or weak parts? No! It makes you want to produce more of the same shit that you already made. That's like being dead. Praise is a murder weapon.

How do you know you've done something shitty? By people telling you so. It's almost impossible to judge your own work objectively unless you're extremely professional. So you are relying on other people telling you the truth about what they liked and more importantly what they didn't like about what you made.

Ever since I became a composer, I have mostly ignored positive comments, and I suck up negative ones. I obsess over them because it's the only way to improve. Even if the negative opinion seems baseless or ridiculous, it probably isn't. It's probably something I need to work on, rather than something on their end. The reason I'm a pro right now is because I had friends who were not afraid to tell me I pretty much sucked ass at composition for about six to eight years. I put so much effort into improving because I knew I could improve so much.

Honest, constructive criticism is the best thing that can happen to you as a creative individual. Especially from people who are not associated with you--most people that know you will not tell you the truth because they've been taught that being "mean" is wrong. Don't let criticism go to waste.

Sorry if this sounds too passionate, but this is something I care about. In my profession I see a lot of fluffy hugglebear bullshit and I see a lot of artists get smothered by it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by RainMan

What...? You ignore positive comments? Some positive comments actually cement the idea that one is moving to the right place in their work. In that way of thinking, it's helpful to receive positive feedback and acknowledge it. There is nothing wrong with that.

Maybe I should've clarified--ever since I became a composer with the aim of making it my full-time job. In other words, I'm not going to quit any time soon. What positive praise does as far as I can tell is it keeps you going if you were going to quit altogether. But the way I see it, if you're in danger of quitting, maybe it's not your passion anyway.

I need negative feedback to understand what I'm doing wrong, and to give me a push to improve. So while I appreciate being appreciated, I downplay the actual positive feedback as much as possible (to the point of ignoring it).

There's nowhere I can't reach.