To clarify, I thought that at some older stage of my life I would be able to gaze upon my own eyes as if I was someone else looking at me.
I don't know why I remember this but there's something powerful in this image. Hell, I may make a poem out of it. No less, there is an application that I have for this moment. I feel that a metaphor can be made out of this futile belief, that one cannot see one's own eyes.
As an artist there's a hope that I can measure my own work's merit without others' criticism. Yet, this isn't the case. No artist can measure his or her own work. That's why you need to be able to take and handle criticism.
So how do you take criticism?
With pen and paper, or pencil and paper, of course!
...
I do think I need to elucidate that the criticism that I'm talking about is different than say critics like Roger Ebert. Those critics handle your absolute finished work. I'm talking about individuals like mentors, fellow artists, friends who are criticizing a work in progress. These individuals are imperative to have and you need to surround yourself with these individuals...those who say "No."
When I say friends I don't mean everyday friends but individuals who intake a lot of what you write. If you're writing poetry and you lend your poems to a friend who doesn't normally read poetry then your friend's or friends' criticism isn't going to be as meaningful as someone who reads a lot of poetry and subscribes to The Paris Review.
The reason is that you don't want someone critiquing your work with "I like it" or "I hate it." There needs to be specific examples. If someone isn't giving you specific examples, then his or her criticism isn't fully valid. Granted, there's something to be said if your poetry impresses someone who doesn't like poetry, but if it is coming from a friend perhaps it's just a bit of generosity.
Let's say you found someone to critique you. You've become a screenwriter and you've kept in touch with a former screenwriting professor who knows a little bit about industry or at the very least what's artistically brilliant in screenplays. What then?
Listen. Well, read if long distance. Don't talk. Let me repeat that: Don't talk.
Don't try to defend what you put out there. It stands on its own now, if in draft form or final form. Don't defend an artistic decision. "I put that Voice Over in that moment to do diddley da" don't say that immediately after hearing a critical thought. If you're receiving a criticism about something then it means it didn't read well to an audience member. I remember directing "The Case of the Crushed Petunias" in university, with my Advanced Directing professor critiquing a scene and I tried to defend a decision to which she replied "I'm just trying to tell you what I saw!" Don't be that kid or lame artist that says "You just don't understand" because if you do then the person on the other end will say "You're right, I don't understand."
Just accept the criticism. Take notes while the criticism is taking place. Then take a day to let it set in or two days, and go back at it. That's the important thing about criticism is that for some artists it can make or break one's work. If that's the case then either your work wasn't worthwhile in the first place or you're not an artist.
Feeling strongly about something in a work is common but sometimes it needs to be let go. If you think it should stay get someone else to critique it. If two people say the same thing then lose it.
Now be mindful that the people who are critiquing you harshly are your best friends unless they are not using specific examples. If they are harshly attacking your work with no specific examples then it is not valid. They're just be ego pricks. Don't let ego pricks facilitate any decisions in your work.
You still need people who are able to say "no that doesn't work," however. The problem with several artists as they get older is that they no longer surround themselves with people who feel confident to say "No," and they have no filter.
Critics, the right ones, the ones that will bust your chops, are your friends. Use them wisely.
So how do you take criticism?
With pen and paper, or pencil and paper, of course!
...
I do think I need to elucidate that the criticism that I'm talking about is different than say critics like Roger Ebert. Those critics handle your absolute finished work. I'm talking about individuals like mentors, fellow artists, friends who are criticizing a work in progress. These individuals are imperative to have and you need to surround yourself with these individuals...those who say "No."
When I say friends I don't mean everyday friends but individuals who intake a lot of what you write. If you're writing poetry and you lend your poems to a friend who doesn't normally read poetry then your friend's or friends' criticism isn't going to be as meaningful as someone who reads a lot of poetry and subscribes to The Paris Review.
The reason is that you don't want someone critiquing your work with "I like it" or "I hate it." There needs to be specific examples. If someone isn't giving you specific examples, then his or her criticism isn't fully valid. Granted, there's something to be said if your poetry impresses someone who doesn't like poetry, but if it is coming from a friend perhaps it's just a bit of generosity.
Let's say you found someone to critique you. You've become a screenwriter and you've kept in touch with a former screenwriting professor who knows a little bit about industry or at the very least what's artistically brilliant in screenplays. What then?
Listen. Well, read if long distance. Don't talk. Let me repeat that: Don't talk.
Don't try to defend what you put out there. It stands on its own now, if in draft form or final form. Don't defend an artistic decision. "I put that Voice Over in that moment to do diddley da" don't say that immediately after hearing a critical thought. If you're receiving a criticism about something then it means it didn't read well to an audience member. I remember directing "The Case of the Crushed Petunias" in university, with my Advanced Directing professor critiquing a scene and I tried to defend a decision to which she replied "I'm just trying to tell you what I saw!" Don't be that kid or lame artist that says "You just don't understand" because if you do then the person on the other end will say "You're right, I don't understand."
Just accept the criticism. Take notes while the criticism is taking place. Then take a day to let it set in or two days, and go back at it. That's the important thing about criticism is that for some artists it can make or break one's work. If that's the case then either your work wasn't worthwhile in the first place or you're not an artist.
Feeling strongly about something in a work is common but sometimes it needs to be let go. If you think it should stay get someone else to critique it. If two people say the same thing then lose it.
Now be mindful that the people who are critiquing you harshly are your best friends unless they are not using specific examples. If they are harshly attacking your work with no specific examples then it is not valid. They're just be ego pricks. Don't let ego pricks facilitate any decisions in your work.
You still need people who are able to say "no that doesn't work," however. The problem with several artists as they get older is that they no longer surround themselves with people who feel confident to say "No," and they have no filter.
Critics, the right ones, the ones that will bust your chops, are your friends. Use them wisely.
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