Two of the authors I work with as an editor and publisher recently received negative reviews of their work. I don’t mean the “constructive criticism” kind of bad review, or even the “I’m not particularly fond of this author’s work” review. I mean the downright malicious and mean review sprinkled with phrases such as, “the author needs to go take a good creative writing course,” and “I feel that reading this book was a waste of my time and money.”

Of course, each of the reviewers couched their negative comments with phrases such as “I’m only saying this for the writer's own good,” but the bottom line is the way in which these reviews were written was meant to wound the authors, to make them feel bad about their work and themselves. What makes it even worse is that one of these reviews was solicited as a possible back cover testimonial from a “friend” of the author, a colleague she liked and admired.

Writing is a very personal experience. Unless we are writing the driest of factual business reports, we are putting our own thoughts, ideas, credibility and personality on the line for everyone to see. We are putting a little piece of ourselves on display and asking, “Do you like me?” When the answer is no, we can feel like a teenage wallflower at the Homecoming dance.

If you write and publish for very long, I guarantee that you will receive negative criticism. As a former news reporter I learned long ago that while you very rarely hear from the people who like what you have written, you will always hear from the ones who don’t like it. And if you make a mistake – and since we are all human, we all will make them occasionally – then really watch out. Readers are always ready and willing to catch a writer in an error.

One day, when I was a rookie reporter I received a phone call from a reader. She began speaking as soon as I picked up. “I’m having a bad day and I just need to complain to someone about something,” she said and went on to tell me that a word in the middle of a column, in the middle of the page, had been syllabicated incorrectly.

This, of course, is the type of critique we can laugh about. But how do you deal with real negativity? Unless you have a superhuman ego, you are bound to be hurt by it, to allow it to make you doubt yourself. 

There is a difference between a good reviewer who makes constructive suggestions about your work and a malicious reviewer who just wants to tear you down. With the first, take the suggestions and try to improve your work. With the second, ask yourself who the writer is and why they wrote these words. Were they, like my phone caller, having a bad day and wanted to take it out on someone safe? Are they jealous of your accomplishments? The problem usually lies with them, not you.

It is difficult to put these type of words out of your mind. The best way is to show the review to someone you trust. Ask them for an objective opinion. Next, if other people have written good words about your writing, pull them out and read them. Just don’t let the negative people stop you from writing. That is your best revenge.