Tag: Criticism

That one voice

Posted on by philipdodson

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We create something, we refine it, we polish and then we share it with the world. We have that feeling of accomplishment and pleasure in having finished it and shipped it.

We have overcome our doubting voices and then we hit the ‘publish’ ‘send’ ‘tweet’ and we wait. Or we do a talk and the audience clap and then we wait for the feedback.

We get a like, a favourite, a re-tweet and we’re happy. We get a lovely DM to say ‘really loved your talk’ or ‘a great post’ in the comments.

Often though, what we are really waiting for is the negative feedback, there must have been someone who didn’t like it.

Then it comes, either a comment after our talk or a negative feedback, a critic.

Then we go off into a spiral of doubt and we say I knew ‘I shouldn’t have said that’ or ‘included that section’, and so the list goes on.

There may have been 25 likes and one ‘dislike’, but it is the one dislike that we focus on in our heads.

Two things I have learnt.

1. not everyone is going to like our stuff, and that’s great as we are not here to create bland stuff for the masses.

2. the one voice does not matter, as the critics are sitting on the sidelines, while you are in the ring taking the ‘punches’ and being brave enough to do it.

Share your creations

Posted on by philipdodson

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Staring at a blank sheet of paper and then starting to type, I wonder where this blog will go?

The more I think about what I want to write each day, the harder it becomes.

I know that if I analyse every sentence and every thought, then I will eventually talk myself out of writing it or I will keep editing it. The voice in the head will be saying ‘what if no one likes it?’ and ‘will that offend someone?’ or ‘does anyone care?’. Fear of what the non-believers will say.

The fact is I do my writing about things that matter to me. About the things I care about. I am not writing for others, I am writing for me.

So I have now got to the point of not caring who else reads them. I am obviously delighted if people enjoy reading them, however, I love writing them, it makes me feel happy and that is why I do this.

The key thing is to find the right people to connect with in life and then share your work with them. If you never share what you create, then you have not created anything.

If some do not like it, that is of no relevance, you may have shared it with the wrong audience, they might be wrong, who knows, who cares. There is very little right or wrong in life.

The most important thing to do is to share your creations and never fear what others will think. This is my creation and I am happy with it.