When Fitzgerald wrote and published The Great Gatsby, it was considered a failure of the time.Â
Rather than pushing through this, Fitzgerald could not deal with the criticism, resulting in him only publishing one more novel in his lifetime.Â
At the height of his talent, he quit. Can you imagine if he had carried on writing the contribution he could have made to literature?Â
This made me think about how to deal with criticism and failure. Criticism is possibly the easier of the two to deal with and greatly depends on who is giving you the criticism.Â
Let us start with the trolls, easily recognised. Typically, they have few followers and rarely have a profile picture. So this is how you deal with these, block. Simple, it upsets them far worse than engaging them.
If the criticism is from someone you respect and it is constructive, then why would you not take it on board and evaluate what they have said? You don't have to agree, but if you respect them, listen.Â
Failure, which is the worse word, is a little more challenging to deal with. But, I will tell you something I tell my students, **mistakes are learning opportunities.'** First you are allowed one day to sulk. Have some cake and sit and sulk. Then, pick yourself up and write again the following day, learn from what went wrong and keep trying.
Not all my articles have been huge successes; not all my books have sold thousands of copies; we are all learning and developing our skills. However, the one thing none of us will accomplish is a hit if we quit at the first sign of failure.Â
If something hasn't worked out and you don't know why then hit reply and share your story; together, we can devise a solution.
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Until next week stay safe
Sam 😊
Quote of the week
Don't fear failure. Be afraid of not having the chance - Sally Carrera Disney Cars
I have three kids under six what do you expect
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