J.R., you blow my mind every time you write. In simple terms you explain the complex psyche of writers and every obstacle they must face in their tenure, each up and down and how to counter that. It silently builds faith. Whenever I now feel uncertain or reluctant on Steem about writing and all things related, I subconsciously land on your profile and begin reading through your stuff for inspiration, direction and advice. Thank you for that trust.
You're absolutely right, and your references to the "dragon" and their significance with Gemini's in some post I read today is uncanny, I was able to personally relate. Brilliant.
However, I do feel contrary to you in some places. For instance, you're right in saying that accepting criticism in a calm, cool and open way is a great ability and one that we all should muster as writers if we wish to grow, but I don't think that slaying the dragon is essential in order to do that.
Writing is art, art is passion. Art is unstoppable, art is fierce and it is not logical. It does not know reason, and it flows freely from the soul. While it's important to keep yourself open to the perspectives of others and grow in compassion as a community of artists, it is very much possible, and in my opinion, essential to do so with all your fire, all your passion. Otherwise, it's just not good enough. In the words of my inspiration, Dante, "The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis."
And even though the context here is worlds apart, I think we can draw some comparisons to it. The true courage lies in being able to take criticism in a calm way without letting your fire extinguish, and it's perhaps something we all suffer from, at one point or another... we're merely oblivious to it.
Apart from this, I learned something new from you today. Thank you for being such an amazing source of knowledge and such a hunk. <3
Thoughts?
This is a great thing to point out and I should have done a better job with this in my post. I agree, that we need passion and emotion to create great works. I never want someone to write without it. What I was getting at and should have been more clear on is the emotion that causes people to argue without ever hearing out the other side.
I believe that the initial hit of the criticism is often a defensive one and letting it pass is best for everyone. This does not mean that our response can not have emotion tied in and if we love what we are writing about we should have a passion for the topic!
Great comment as always! Thanks for contributing. <3