I write for a site that has its fair share of controversial articles. And every once in a while one that I put up is controversial. Like the one I put up today.
My article criticized the Canadian Border Services Agency. (As my husband said... good luck crossing the border later this month ;) lol) It's not like it garnered 100 comments, but it did get at least one comment from a superviser with the CSBA. (probably clicking 'flag this person' at this very moment...)
Basically they haven't been allowed to have guns. Now they are being given guns but it's taking a heck of a long time to get 7200 guards certified. (Not all of them will get guns)
To top it off, there are new recruits being incredibly dumb and posting pictures on Facebook of alcohol consumption in uniform.
Anyways... you can read it if you like.
So what do you do when your writing draws criticism?
1. Analyze the criticism to determine a) who it's coming from and b) if it has merit.
2. Find something in the criticism that you can learn from.
3. Do not take it personally.
The third point is the hardest because many critics take things to a personal level. For example, one critic didn't like my tone (sarcasm) and while on one hand I know that it's just the tone I chose to write in, on the other I feel it's a criticism of me as a writer and the tool I chose.
(I'm not a huge fan of sarcasm... but I use it sometimes...)
The first point is important because everyone one has a bias. A quick Google search determined that one of my commenters was a supervisor at the CSBA. I can understand why he'd take offense to my article.
It was about one viewpoint, one opinion.
It goes without saying that many, many employees at the CSBA are good workers. But the fact is, their employer has faced controversy in the last few years and that's what my article was about. The controversies.
After reading the comments, I digested them and responded. I wasn't offended, really, how can you be offended by an opinion. It's an opinion, not an action or a concrete attack. It's just one person's opinion.
Now if I'm totally flagged at the border now I will really be offended. LOL
Please feel free to comment...
(Cross-posted at The Writing Mother)
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
When Your Writing is Controversial
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1 comment:
Glad to follow your link from the writing mother yahoo group- and love this post. I had a piece in a major newspaper that garned a great deal of controversy- so much that they ran my editorial twice, opening it up to comments from the public. It was a great way to get my name out there, and for me to learn to grow a tough skin, as people assume they know YOU by a few of your words. Never take criticism personally, is my advice. It is just ONE person's opinion at ONE moment. Everything changes.
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