In 1916, Lajos Tihanyi (29 October 1885 – 11 June 1938), a Hungarian painter and lithographer, painted the above portrait of Andor Halasi, a literary critic.
What is a critic?
It may be a simple question with an obvious answer.
1a: one who engages often professionally in the analysis, evaluation, or appreciation of works of art or artistic performances
a literary critic a film critic a theater critic
b: one who expresses a reasoned opinion on any matter especially involving a judgment of its value, truth, righteousness, beauty, or technique
Critics of the new law say that it will not reduce crime.
2: one given to harsh or captious judgment
-------------------------------------------------
Opinions on writing fall in the category of literary critic, such as Andor Halasi in the portrait. And as writers, we face many critics--the harshest of all from ourselves.
Let's look at definiton 2 of critic: one given to harsh or captious judgment
In general, criticism is the easiest thing in the world to dish out. The critic may not be qualified in the field. He/she can be a drive-by snipe, whose motives are far from professional, never the less construction.
Yet, an unkind word, true or not, can break a spirit...derail a career. Resilience, though, allows the artist to keep on going, keeping in this mind:
“There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”
I remember in college, when stung by a roommate's criticism of my choice of studies. I shared my hurt with one of my professors. He gave me a copy of a newspaper clip, which he kept in his wallet. Clearly, the advice was precious to him.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming;
but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
I received the Teddy Roosevelt quote over 45 years ago. Since then, my professor who gave it to me has passed away. But his encouragement during that low time gave me the courage not to give up during many challenges in my life.
So, my friend, whatever you tackle, such as writing, consider the carping of the critic for what it is. Mine it for any truth that may be constructive. And most of all, get up and keep on going.
The author, Donald Maass facilitated the workshop. He started by stating that he saw more emotion in the short ads of last Superbowl than many of the manuscripts he was reviewing at the time.
Here is one such example from Superbowl Ad 2017, a 60 second beer ad, which may be what he was talking about:
The workshop was intense. And I would do it again. But in this short post, I can only convey a key point .
As in any writing, there are many ways and styles. No right or wrong way. The attendees spent the day exploring that. But in the end, the reader is sovereign.
Yet the mark of good fiction is that it changes us, the reader. And we care about the characters on the journey. We make an emotional connection with them. Their journey is our journey. Their struggles are our struggles. It becomes part of our long term memory.
What came to mind was the running theme in The Lord of the Rings movies. That emotional connection with the struggle is why this is my favorite scene.
In destroying the ring, Sam's impossible quest is our quest. His struggle is our struggle. As he sums it up: There is some good in this world...And it's worth fighting for.
And to sum up the workshop in three words, what the author must do for the reader is...
Give them hope.
And so with hope, I start of another thread.
Write Stuff.
Our journey as writers is making the stuff to connect. And it's worth writing for!
