LEFT MENU

Write, Crit, Lit…

cartoon-man-with-hatchet

by Megan Archer

Recently, criticism has reached new blows. A writer’s work isn’t the only thing up for jabs. It is also open season on our faces, bodies, as well the usual suspect – our mental health.

As a reader I admit to enjoying a bit of snark on my Sunday morning toast as the critics rampage through the hopes and dreams of other writers. 

So, I’ll be honest here. Do I find AA Gill and Camilla Long entertaining? Yes! As a writer, do I want them unleashed on my work? No!

CRIT MY BOOK –  SLEEP WITH THE TADPOLES

So I’m a hypocrite – duh! Aren’t we all? Wait! Put the knee down and think about it for a minute. Why is it so hard not to be gleeful when Mister Goteverythinghandedtohimonaplate doesn’t win the Best-Bookie Award that everyone said should be handed to him on a golden doily?

How do you know whether or not Mister Goteverythinghandedtohimonaplate doesn’t just work a hell of a lot harder than you do? And… heaven forbid – could Mister Goteverythinghandedtohimonaplate  just be a better writer than you?

I mean what do we writers expect? We don’t just ask for it – we put it writing; warts, factual inaccuracies, flowery passages, gratuitous descriptions, dull dialogue, simplistic symbolism, comma coma, extraneous alliteration and all!

THE CRIT-LIT SECTION

No wonder critics awarded themselves a genre all of their own!

So having said all that – why was I so pleased to find Bob Garfield, writing in the New York Times, describing BuzzFeed’s decision to desnark the snark page as a ‘heroic initiative’?

Well, maybe because the thought of being mocked, snarked and given a thoroughly good hatcheting in public just isn’t what inspires me.

NOTHING TO FEAR BUT FEAR ITSELF

What am I saying?  I did promise to be honest. It’s not just about taking a hit on my inspiration stocks, it’s about fear – real, honest to goodness fear. Could they be right?

To read more from my sometimes-honest diary – click here.

 

 

 

JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER
I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information )
Join over 3.000 visitors who are receiving our newsletter and get your free creative writing tracker.
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.
No comments yet.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.