A need for brutality

I had a brutal review of Winkle² on Book Country. The most honest and disapproving ever. I had already decided the manuscript would be reworked by the time I saw this, had already decided it would not serve, but all the same, it was useful.

He wasn't entirely right; I can use elipses, I can and should use italics, though he's right about never bolding things. Something I've done, in error and often.

He's right about not explaining who Rip van Winkle is, he's right about the sheer amount of exposition, but there's an implication about how far he thinks it should all go. There will be some drifts in that direction, but I need to account for who the advice is coming from, and for how far I want to go in his direction.

Luckily, much of what he said is in line with my own doubts, and support of one's doubts can often be as heartening as support of one's hopes. I need to be strong to be in this business, and strength means finding middle ground in the advice of people who haven't found much to love about what you've done.

So I need to read the review again and again, because this guy has the brains to lay some truths out as they are, intelligence evident by the ego such brains develop. I need to know when the ravaging is justified and when the complaint is simply born of a pet-peeve, a dislike that serves a purpose irrelevant to my own.

That will be the most brutal part of all. I'm a submissive creature; contrary to most people, I tend to find most advice safe and easy to follow. Rather than getting so huffy and and entrenched that I'm in danger of ignoring the valuable bits, I'm so convinced I've always been doing it wrong that I'm in more danger of letting people shake convictions I should be more certain of.

So I need to remember both sides of the coin and read this, the most scathing and professional (as unpalatable and laughably too-strong that word is in this situation) review I've had yet and separate the useful from the insulting. I need to let it hurt and learn how to shrug the pain off and remain pragmatic.

I've rarely tackled anything so difficult because I've never HAD to in my life. Everything about being an American has been made so easy because it's the maximum difficulty many (most) people can handle. We're born into accepting the flow around us, so if I find that flow too easy, it's up to me to seek out a better one, to set my own and stick to it, so that I might emerge into something more than I would have been. On the rare occasion when someone subjects me to something harsher, I should be thankful someone took my burden upon themselves for once. And I am.

I've got some hard pills to swallow, but I've got a thing or two to prove, as well. It may be just the combination I need. The first million words are practice? Even if Winkle² is as amateur as I fear, I'm still ahead of schedule.