How To Be Afraid To Share Your Work (And Do It Anyway)

Let's face it. Rejection sucks. Hard. And when what you're sending out into the world is something you've spent hours on in dreaming, outlining, and finally putting pen to paper (or keys to Word Doc), it just makes it that much more daunting.

You've put your heart and soul into this, and you fear the possibility of someone taking your work and trampling it underfoot with their stinging criticism while they twirl their mustaches and smoke their cigars.

And the truth is, yeah, not everyone is going to be as big of a fan of your work as you are. But if you don't put it out there for people to read, then -- SPOILER ALERT -- no one will ever read it.

See, there's a flip side to criticism.

While one of its dictionary definitions does lean towards the negative...

<> "The expression of disapproval of someone or something based on perceived faults or mistakes"

There is another very important aspect of its definition to consider, this being:

<> "The analysis and judgment of the merits and faults of a literary or artistic work"

Faults and merits.

And even when someone does find a "fault", this isn't a deathblow. That's why we engage in the sometimes grueling but almost always rewarding act of editing (over and over and over again...). And if we're honest, sometimes we may be just a little too close to our darlings to see certain shortcomings.

Criticism is always a tough pill to swallow, but if you can make yourself take this medicine (maybe with a spoonful of sugar to help it go down), your final product will be all the better for it.

And at the end of the day, it is your writing after all, and you get to decide if their input is worth implementing or not. But if you never put your work out there, you'll never know what it's made of.

HERE'S TO YOU BEING BRAVE