Day 84: Dealing with fragile egos

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 84: Dealing with fragile egos

Just about everyone knows that when asked “What do you think of my hair?” or “Am I fat?” one has to proceed with extreme caution.

Lately, I became aware of another ‘loaded gun’ … “What do you think of my book?” Invariably, the authors aren’t looking for honest feedback on the cover design or story, they’re looking for validation. They’re not looking for an honest opinion, they want their feathers stroked.

Being an honest individual who says it like it is, I’ve ruffled a few feathers this morning. A writer boasted about her sales and curious as I am, I went to Amazon to take a look. When I found the book in question I clicked on the ‘Look Inside’ feature and I was horrified by what I found.

Something that immediately put my back up was the following …

“Hi , how r u ?” Sarah assked.

While I understand that ‘how r u?’ in phone texting is acceptable, it is most certainly not appropriate for a story. The misplaced comma bothered me too, but what really irked me the most was the spelling mistake. If this had been on page 199, this might have been an oversight, but this misspelled word was on page one.

The author claimed that not only did she proofread her document, she had ‘several eyes’ go over it. This begs the question, didn’t she or any of the others notice that 'asked' is spelled with one ‘s’ not two?

When I pointed out these mistakes I was told that I was being a spiteful bitch. Well excuse me but, if someone can’t handle constructive criticism, why ask for feedback in the first place? Perhaps, when asking for feedback, certain writers should post the following warning:

Please comment on my book, but don’t criticize it. Tell me how beautiful my cover is, how interesting my story is and how well written it is. If you dare to say anything negative, I will lash out at you. I want to be told that I’m wonderful, that there’s no other book out there like mine, and that my work will no doubt reach the top. In short, I have the mentality of a 6-year-old and if you don’t stroke my fragile ego I will throw a tantrum.

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