{"id":17888,"date":"2019-08-27T23:41:31","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T15:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/?p=17888"},"modified":"2019-08-26T23:14:29","modified_gmt":"2019-08-26T15:14:29","slug":"turn-criticism-into-inspiration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hongkiat.com\/blog\/turn-criticism-into-inspiration\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Turn Criticism Into Inspiration"},"content":{"rendered":"

As creatives, criticism is part and parcel of our careers. Yet, because of our artistic sensitivity<\/strong>, we can often be the least prepared to deal with it. I once had a classmate in design school who would quite literally burst into tears whenever an instructor made a critical<\/a> comment (justified or not) about her work.<\/p>\n

Each semester I would find her reduced to a heap of tears and despair, threatening to drop out of school and leave all of her mean, awful teachers behind for good. Actually, come to think of it, she probably had some other issues that we weren\u2019t aware of. But regardless, we\u2019ve all been there at least one time or two.<\/p>\n

Luckily, there are some ways you can deal with critics that will not only silence them but also provide you with even more fuel for your creative fire.<\/p>\n

Recommended Reading: <\/strong>How To Deal With Criticism In The Freelancing World<\/a><\/p>\n

Turn The Heat Around<\/h2>\n

The best way to address someone who is giving you unsolicited and unhelpful criticism is to turn it back on them. Make it their job to prove themselves to you, rather than the other way around. It\u2019s been my experience that 99% of critics disappear when confronted with any kind of rigorous intellectual challenge<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Why? Because their true aim isn\u2019t to help you improve, it\u2019s to tear you down<\/strong> or it\u2019s to find an outlet for their own jealousies and insecurities<\/a><\/strong>. Either way, it\u2019s not constructive to either you or them.<\/p>\n

Read Also: <\/strong>Don\u2019t Be A Troll Magnet: Tips To Minimize Online Harassment<\/a><\/p>\n

Preparing For Battle<\/h3>\n

When dealing with haters, it\u2019s perfectly okay to be a snob. If you are confronted with a stupid comment attacking your work or your character in a nasty way<\/strong>, it doesn\u2019t help anything to get angry and start a flame war.<\/p>\n

\"preparing-for-battle\"<\/figure>\n

Instead, try saying something like this: \u201cit\u2019s interesting that you should say that because my research (cite some book or blog post you read here) seems to suggest that the opposite<\/em> is actually true. Is there some study or paper you can point me to that would validate your claim?\u201d Bam! Hater, gone! No one is going to attempt to seriously debate with you when you\u2019re so obviously prepared for an academic beat down<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Get Inspired<\/h2>\n

The use of hatred as creative inspiration has a long and illustrious history in the arts. In fiction, no dramatic story arc is complete without the main character overcoming some sort of adversity<\/strong>, typically in the form of harsh, unfounded criticism of his or her abilities<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Read Also: <\/strong>How to Handle Cyber Hecklers<\/a><\/p>\n

When you do your homework and challenge your critics in a polite, serious way, you can send most of the packing. But you can also generate more inspiration for your work.<\/p>\n

Fuel New Ideas<\/h3>\n

You can use the criticism of your past work to generate ideas for new projects<\/a>. For example, researching a response to a critic may lead you to read about or experience something you never would have before, which can open the door<\/strong> for all sorts of new experiments in your professional or personal projects. In this way, I suppose even haters can offer you constructive criticism<\/a><\/strong>. Who knew?<\/p>\n

\"fuel-new-ideas\"<\/figure>\n

Feel The Love<\/h2>\n

Remember: for every mean or ill-informed critic, there are typically dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of people who will love and support what you do wholeheartedly<\/strong>. I know it\u2019s easier to focus on negativity \u2013 human nature and all that \u2013 but there\u2019s really no reason to.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re focused on providing the most value to your targeted, niche audience that you possibly can, you won\u2019t even have time to listen to the detractors<\/strong>. Eventually, most of them will go away because they won\u2019t have a leg to stand on.<\/p>\n

\"feel-the-love\"<\/figure>\n

Your Worst Critics Are Your Biggest Fans<\/h3>\n

As for the ones who stick around? Well, obviously there\u2019s something they find compelling about you or your work<\/strong>, or they wouldn\u2019t bother reaching out to you. When most people genuinely dislike something, they assess that they dislike it, and they move on. But something about what you do is keeping these critics engaged<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re so inclined, you can try to figure out what it is,<\/strong> so that you can do more of it. Usually, your critic will give you clues about what they\u2019re so obsessed with, as they\u2019ll keep mentioning it or pointing out how \u2018intolerable\u2019 it is.<\/p>\n

Grab Your Silver Lining<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s hard to shield ourselves from criticism especially with an audience as big and as globally diverse as the Web. You can\u2019t keep everyone happy<\/strong> but you can, however, make the best of your situation and aim to come up tops, with the majority.<\/p>\n

\"silver-lining\"<\/figure>\n

A few years down the road, you may even look back at this week\u2019s terrible incident, laugh and think, \"is that all there is? I\u2019m so glad I didn\u2019t actually give up that<\/em> time. I\u2019m so glad I didn\u2019t let them<\/em> win just because I couldn\u2019t take a punch.\"<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As creatives, criticism is part and parcel of our careers. Yet, because of our artistic sensitivity, we can often be the least prepared to deal with it. I once had a classmate in design school who would quite literally burst into tears whenever an instructor made a critical comment (justified or not) about her work.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3410],"tags":[2820],"topic":[4523,4521],"class_list":["entry-content","is-maxi"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Turn Criticism Into Inspiration - Hongkiat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As creatives, criticism is part and parcel of our careers. Yet, because of our artistic sensitivity, we can often be the least prepared to deal with it. 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