How much attention do you pay to critics?

Good morning!

I know, I know, it's been a while since I posted on this blog. Things happen and I get distracted and am unable to post. If this was my actual job and I was paid to do this, I would be more diligent. As it is, this is just what I do in my off-time.

Back to the title of this post. I pay little attention to critics. It's their job to criticize and they get paid to do it, so they criticize other people's work. Too many of them take it to heart and simply work at finding fault with the work of others who may or may not deserve some of the crappy reviews they receive. I would hate to think that my livelihood depended on being negative about the creative efforts of others. I mean, how can anyone keep their mind and attitude on an even keel when they spend their lives looking for the bad in works that they may not even comprehend or understand? How much of a toll can such unrelenting negativity take on a person's life? Never mind the effect it may have on the writer who may believe that he or she has written the next Great American Novel. Bad reviews can be a soul-crushing blow that some people cannot recover from, and to think that a reviewer may simply have written such a bad review because they thought the phrases they came up with sounded 'cute' or tripped lightly from the tongue, is simply too cruel a thing to think of. Maybe the critic thinks that by ripping the work of others to shreds, they can catapult themselves into 'stardom' the way that a well known 'judge' on one of my least favorite talent contest/reality shows did. (I don't like reality shows because they bear little or no resemblance to reality and deprive writers of opportunities to make a living.)

So, just how much attention should one pay to critics? However much you can stomach. Just keep in mind that the only effort critics make at being creative is what they put into tearing the heart out of writers who have come under their eye. And that's not creative, that's just being cruel. They know no more than you or I and earn a living from being negative and cruel with a drop of actual appreciation for the efforts of others now and then. Anyone you meet on the street can do as well.

No. I have not received a bad review from anyone regarding any of my works as yet, so this post is not a reaction to such a review. It's simply the way I feel about the topic.

Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of Gulf of the Plains, Congruencies, Taken Apart and others.
Available on Kindle