Critics? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Critics!
by Chris Courtney

You are called to write.  It’s in your blood.  You also love Jesus and want to share what God has done in your life.  This is your call.  This is your purpose.  Deep down in your heart, in the very essence of your being, you know it.  You’ve queried your fingers to the bone, and submitted yourself into submission.  You’re work has been rejected more than Malcolm X at a Klan rally.  Still, you continue to spill your heart out on paper (or hard drive, as the case may be).

Here’s what I have to say to you: don’t quit.  Keep on truckin’ and don’t let the critics get you down.

Back in 1999, my wife Jennie and I started an e-mail ministry, E-ncouragement.  There are pieces we have written where we were emotionally exhausted from having put so much of ourselves into the article we were forming.  We opened our lives and shared our hearts, only to receive one piece of feedback: a negative diatribe calling our writing religious rubbish (it‘s neither).  We were discouraged and disheartened by one critic.  This was early on in our ministry, and it nearly derailed us.

Never let the critics get you down.  By following the leading of the Lord on your heart and sharing Him with others in your writing, you are not merely submitting articles to editors.  You are submitting to God.  For every critical voice you’ll hear, there will be ten of praise, as long as you open your heart and let God flow through your words.

Over the years, I have written many pieces for E-ncouragement.  The ones that have elicited the most positive response have been the ones where I opened my heart wide, sometimes to the point of self deprecation, and shared my life and what I’ve learned.  I use humor (where apropos) to keep the reader hooked, and never whine about the situations that have risen in my life.  The tone stays positive at all times, because God is there. 

There is no feeling like the one a writer experiences when a reader lets you know they’ve been touched by your writing.  Being used mightily by the Lord makes all the critical words melt away, because the writing belongs to Him.  We may be the writers, but He is The Author.

So let me encourage you to write your little heart out. Share God, and write what He tells you to write.  When you do, it’s guaranteed that God has an audience in mind.  He inspired you to write what someone else needs to read.  They may need to read your work now.  They may need it in a year.  It’s all in God’s time.

These points may help you out:

• Keep it real.  Don’t stray out of your element.  Your life experiences are God‘s lesson plan, so stick with what you know.

• Keep it light.  Nobody wants to be preached at.  If the approach is fresh and the tone is positive, you’ll be like the Pied Writer, with readers eager to follow your stories and devour your words.

• Don’t let the critics get to you.  It isn’t you who’s been rejected, so never take it personal.  Even if someone calls you ugly and says your mother dresses you funny, disregard it. 

• Be careful not to confuse constructive criticism with destructive. 

Keep your hand to the plow, your eyes on the Lord, and your heart open.  And remember the words of Tennessee Williams: “The best thing you can do about critics is never say a word.  In the end you have the last say, and they know it.”

Copyright 2002 by Chris Courtney.  All rights reserved.  Reprinted by permission.

Chris Courtney is a freelance writer from Minnesota (by way of Indiana).  Together with his wife, Jennie, they founded E-NCOURAGEMENT (www.e-ncouragement.com) in 1999 as a ministry to reach out to people with words of love, peace and encouragement in Jesus.