Dealing With Criticism

When I started writing, I was like a stubborn child stamping my feet if someone even dared to critique! I suffered from mild dyslexia when I was small (but was tub, matter was rattem, etc), and I guess the hate for being critiqued stemmed from constantly being corrected. When I grew into my teens, my spelling thankfully improved, my brain now able to put things in to the correct order. That didn't make my loathing for critics go away though!

Age hasn't mellowed me. What's changed now is the knowledge that I am not perfect and that even the cleverest and most highly thought of people in the world are where they are for surrounding themselves with experts.

Before you all gasp with horror, I am NOT admitting that critics are experts. In fact, they are far from it! Whether you like something or not is subjective. We are all different and all like different things. But if someone can tell me that I've not been logical, or can point out continuity errors in my stories, I will listen.
Everyone of us hears. We don't all listen. I recommend the art of listening in all aspects of life. What you hear is nothing compared to what you listen to. The critics may be harsh, but if what they are saying is true, act on it.

If someone says that the story is rubbish, that is SUBJECTIVE. The next person might love it! If they say it needs proof reading for errors, however, they are being OBJECTIVE and might be right. So proof your work again.

A 2star review for Being Grey on Amazon said "Humorous at times and mildly interesting but needs spelling and punctuation proofreading. I would read the next book in the trilogy." How bad could it have been if the reader wants to read the next book? They enjoyed it!

Subjectively, they want to carry on with the tale. PERFECT!
Objectively, they pointed out the errors that did need amending (which has since been done, thank you!).

You have to grow a thick skin, but also read between the lines. You never know where help might come from!