Critics Are Always Wrong - more Seth Godin
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[center][b]Critics Are Always Wrong About “Everyone†…[/b][/center]
… but they’re entitled to their opinions. The worst sort of critic relies on a time-honored crutch, one that rarely works: “I didn’t like it; therefore no one will like it.†The critic says, “This play was terrible,†when she means, “I didn’t like the play, but you might.†The critic says, “This book will never sell,†when she means, “People who have the same taste as I do won’t buy this book.â€
Universalizing negative feedback takes the pressure off the critic. The critic is putting the blame back on the artist instead of taking responsibility for her opinion. The one-star reviews on Amazon are an author’s bane and a tar pit to be avoided. Of course these people are wrong; they must be corrected! I’m overwhelmed with the desire to point out what they didn’t understand in my writing, why they are mistaken. I don’t mind errors in taste (there are no errors in taste), but I’m frothing at their errors in judgment! For years I was fixated on these anonymous screeds (the negative ones are just about always anonymous, even in Publishers Weekly). Or worse, the artist starts to believe that the criticism is actually true, that the work is universally lousy, and then the art suffers, because the lizard is activated, the resistance is on high alert, and commitment starts to waver. Gradually, every step carries a small hesitation as the artist becomes attached to the outcome. [url=http://hinessight.blogs.com/church_of_the_churchless/2013/03/being-totally-human-makes-us-godlike-kamiwaza.html]Kamiwaza[/url] fades. The art is too important for these reviews to be indulged. Walk away. Let them be wrong. They are critics. Critics are always wrong.
“We’re not looking for the correct method, we’re looking for the incorrect method.” â€"Keith Richards
Extract from [url=http://sethgodin.typepad.com/the_dip/]The Dip[/url] by Seth Godin
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[quote name=“Kirjokansi” post=“34342” timestamp=“1384528636”]
They can be right, it’s just their arguments can be wrong. Nobody’s always wrong though. It’s impossible. You just need to extract the things you can use from it and let the rest be.
[/quote]I think you’re right you do have to take the good out of the bad, I think Seth here is referring to not letting critics stop you from trying something especially if it scares you. What’s right about the critic is that it is their opinion what’s wrong is the categorical nature of the statement as if it applies to everyone which he himself is doing by being absolutist.
Good point.
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I never rely on someone else opinion, I just get so much info I can or try it out if possible and make my own opinion.
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For me it’s like this - when critics say some movie is good, in most cases I don’t like it :D