I have gotten so much better that I receive all of them the same way. Of course, we are still humans, and we want to protect our work and ourselves as much as we want, but we also need to be realistic and open to criticism. Some still do it just to hurt the writer, but those are good because they always throw gems without knowing what could be failing in the story. The last or most recent one told me I have so much imagination that I failed to convey it in the paper, but then I realized that my writing style and theirs were incompatible. In the same way, it gave me tips to fix the problem, so it was a win-win.
When I first started sharing my writing, I was scared that people would be rude to me because I was learning how to write novels and since English is my second language and I had just recently become fluent, I was scared of making so many mistakes.
The only reason I got over that fear was because I finally accepted that not everyone was going to like the way I write. It didn't matter how many beta readers I cooperated with, how much constructive criticism I got--- there was always going to be one person dissatisfied with my writing.
Trolling/hate comments are something else, I don't pay attention to it at all because well, it's trolls. They're people who have nothing better to do, are jealous, or they're miserable overall. Granted, it's not something that should be tolerated because the comment section of a comic/novel should be to enjoy the work with other readers, so I think it's fair when authors report/filter those comments.
I honestly appreciate all kinds of feedback/criticism when it comes to my writing because it helps me a lot with things that I'm completely oblivious to, unless it's done in a sh*tty fashion.
OMG, I can relate so much! English is my second language, so I grew up reading Isabel Allende, Gabriel García Márquez, and many Puerto Rican authors. They all have in common that they express a lot of emotion, which feels different from English written novels maybe because the culture and nuances. And because of that, I naturally developed a melancholic undertone that doesn’t click with everyone. Some beta readers have tried to make me feel miserable, but I’m embracing my writing style, and I’ve become so much better since I stopped hating it.
I used to write very melancholic when I was a teenager too! When I was in high school writing my final essay to graduate, I wrote about something personal that happened to me and my teacher said that I should read books by Isabel Allende because my writing reminded her so much about them.
It sucks when beta readers don't understand that sometimes some people's writing voice isn't bubbly or feisty, which I guess, it's more welcomed in the writing community. Sometimes people just need a melancholic to speak our thoughts haha.
I've learned that I have to be in the right headspace to ask for feedback. Not that I don't appreciate it, but I have a bad tendency of getting into a self-doubt spiral over it. Anxiety sucks!!
Troll comments don't really phase me, though. It's usually pretty obvious when someone is hating just to hate.
Troll comments can be hilarious sometimes. I used t have a little collection of the best ones, but I dunno where they went when my laptop died earlier this year.
@JoshRaed I think you might have gotten a little better, but it's a difficult thing to manage anyway. When I was learning to absorb critiques and even when I had editors looking over my work, I think it helped to take some time to absorb the feedback. Also, maybe take notes! That way you can go back over your story and keep the important bits in mind.
I have no problem with criticism, even blunt criticism. The type of feedback I don't like is when the person says something that doesn't pertain to the work at hand. Saying a romance has no action or the action comics has no drama. Complaining about what the creator tried to do is one thing, but complaining about what the creator never set out to do in the first place is disingenuous. I try to never complain about artwork unless that person should know better (just an example, not real: a professional like Jim Lee doing crap work compared to work he has down before). If you don't like the look of my artwork, that is fine. But it was done that way with intention. The last thing I dislike is criticism based on not offending someone. If you write a horrible person, which exist in the world, complaining how that person acts is not a viable critique of the work. It's a character. I've had this with some of my dialogue as the main characters make fun of each other. Their friendship is based on insults, which no one among them take seriously. This does happen. There is no reason it should not be in a story.