Posted by Atticus on December 20, 2004, at 18:36:29
In reply to Re: I have a very personal question for you Atticus, posted by AdaGrace on December 15, 2004, at 17:09:33
First, I'd probably make a smart-@ss remark about the fines for littering along the roadway. Then I'd ask the person what got him or her so p*ssed off. I wouldn't feel personally hurt because I've written too much stuff to take a reaction like that to heart. When you put yourself out there -- especially with very personal and revealing material as I have on PB and on my own Web site -- I think part of the deal is that you have to learn how to handle it when someone says it sucks. I guess unless the person was offering constructive criticism as to what areas of the poem needed improvement, I wouldn't be able to learn anything from the negative feedback. So I'd ignore it. It's like getting an exam back from a teacher with big red X's all over it but no explanation where I went wrong; it's of no real value. Did something like this happen to you (if you don't mind my asking) or is this just a hypothetical situation? Part of my ability to separate an emotional response from a practical "how-do-I-fix-it" response is the fact that I've been a copywriter and editor since college, so I'm used to trying to separate constructive criticism from merely nasty comments or acting out. Hope that helps. ;) Atticus
poster:Atticus
thread:430026
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/write/20041210/msgs/432176.html