(Photo Courtesy of – Puppets! For all your lonely endeavors!)

 

Dear World

Please Kill Me,

Greetings, my generally judgmental court-jesters. Happy Thursday. How’s your week been? If all has gone according to plan -your mental anguish for the week is nearing a close. (Let your weekend turmoil commence.)

Anyway- Critics. One of the few things that I pride myself on as a writer, is my undeniable ability to not really give a shit about opinions.

Sure, if it’s a spelling, grammatical, structural, etc- issue, I take them into account- but for the most part (when concerning creative aspects), I do my best Helen Keller impersonation. (“W..A..T…E….R…”- smart joke , read a book. )

I’m not unique in this ability. As a matter of fact- anyone that’s been doing literally anything creative (in a public arena), has likely learned to overcome the radioactive sludge of criticism ( Only to rise as Captain -Gives-No-Fucks : sarcastically rolling their eyes in the face of injustice) .

For those of you who have yet to experience that black hole of critical dissent, just know that it’s coming (#alloveryourface), and that you may not have spread your reach far enough.

Don’t get me wrong, critics can be useful tools if you want an unbiased critique of your work. But remember, a proper critique is an art all on its own, so be careful who you depend on if you go this route. A good critic (as with any other group of talent) , is only found amongst a truckload of horseshit (and other fecal properties).

Do not be swayed by the opinions of a passerby. Most of the time they won’t know what they’re talking about, and will likely attempt to bring you down, in the form of encouraging you to create something- that they feel they could have easily done. By doing that, they get they pleasure of crapping you while living vicariously through you.( No bueno.)

It’s a danger taking those people too seriously. A rule of thumb -if you want a useful critique- is to seek a peers opinion (i.e. someone at your artistic level).

People are competitive- and your contemporaries have little to no reason to lead your work astray. ( Unless you’re a dick, in which case you’re on your own.) For the most part though, the better you are, the better they strive to be and vice versa. (Ah, competitiveness – you clever shrew).

But if you’re like me (and would rather circumvent the fuckery of it all), I’d suggest learning and building upon an internal confidence. Trust yourself and your work, your audience will find you (and you get the freedom of not having to live up to any expectation, but your own).

Do be weary of this method though (we do not need another E.L. James or Tyler Perry- who literally let out whatever crap falls from their lack of imagination.)

Again, trust your work.

It can be difficult to trust your own opinion, especially if you’ve put your heart into your project. If you can’t find a way to do that, then perhaps you need a critics opinion, that’s fine. My only suggestion is that you filter through the buffoonery and find the ones that help you to improve. That is in essence how we as creatives should use them ( and for buying stuff on Amazon, I guess. *stares at broken waffle iron*)

Ahem, anyway that’s my ramble of the day. See you guys tomorrow (where I’ll be trying on a leotard. … Okay probably not).

Dropkick your Thursday,

-Antwan Crump.