Over the years I have grown accustomed to receiving critical feedback. In my BFA program for acting in college it was a part of everyday life. Getting my degree in video production was the same way. If you are in the arts, people are going to comment on the art that you make. Some of them have no idea what they’re talking about. Some of them have loads of expertise and you respect their opinion greatly. Regardless of how you feel about the person, you’re going to hear their thoughts. So the sooner you can adjust your thinking, and learn that negative comments and constructive criticism are not personal attacks, the happier you will be.

I pride myself on the fact that I have learned to do this. In fact, I relish constructive criticism because it helps me to improve my work. I seek it out, and specifically ask people to tell me what they don’t like. Mind you, I’m selective about who I ask. I’ve learned that criticism from people you respect is much more palatable than from people you don’t respect. That being said, I am quite accustomed to reading or hearing note after note about the flaws in my work. The notes are usually preceded by a complimentary message, but once I’m into the thick of it; it’s criticism the whole way. That is what I’m used to, and I’m perfectly okay with it.

I actually prefer it to the methodology I learned in college, which said that you needed to precede every negative with a positive, and if at all possible, bookend it with another positive. That’s great in theory, but in practice you spend a lot of time listening to half-hearted, pseudo-positive comments that are only said because the person is forced to say them. Ain’t nobody got time for that! Cut to the chase, give me the meat, and let’s move on with our day. The people I go to for critiques know this, and they are great at giving it to me straight. I love it!

So when I pulled up some notes from a new reader and discovered that just about every other comment was positive, I was taken aback. Not just positive as in, “I love it!” But positive in a specific way. Things like “this section is powerful,” or “I can totally see a teenage girl thinking this.” Comments for the nails that were hit square on the head, as well as the ones that went in crooked and need to be fixed. Both the good and the bad were constructive in their own way. In all honesty, I was impressed because I’ve never really thought about positive comments being constructive, but these were. They drew attention to where I had done it right, and why it was right. So in the places where I had done it wrong, (for lack of a better word and to keep my comparison tidy) I now know where to go for examples to help make it right, especially since several of them correlated to a positive note.

Okay, this doesn’t really have anything to do with my blog. But it made me laugh so hard I spit coffee, so I had to share.

I was also impressed because I know that when I’m approaching a work critically it is hard for me to focus on or catch the good things, because I’m so fixated on culling out the bad. The fact that she was able to deliver both positive and negative insight at the same time is impressive! Because her critical comments were most definitely helpful and pointed out discrepancies that need to be addressed. She did both. At the same time. Consider my mind blown.

Needless to say, I have a new skill to work on. I would love to be able to constructively point out the good and the bad in a piece as gracefully as this reader did. Is anybody else good at that too? How did you develop the habit?