At the beginning of this month, like most New Year resolutions, I promised that I would take better care of myself. I would eat better, do yoga, meditate, and write in my gratitude journal.
It’s Jan 20th, 2017. The inauguration of Satan himself is happening today. The world is imploding. ALLEGEDLY drops in four days. I’ve barely eaten a salad. Cookies are my life now.
Aside from life events, launching a novel is stressful. There’s book signings to plan, parties to host, articles to write, interviews to participate in, photos to take that you must look at least half way decent in. On top of all that comes the added stress of managing criticism of your work.
So if I could give one piece of self-care advice when it comes to criticism it would be this: Ignore the hate. Ignorance is bliss.
Granted everyone has an opinion, and I listen and respect opinions above all. If someone has deep meaningful concerns, I’m happy to address them. But it doesn’t mean I have to address every single problem, every single person has with my book. Doesn’t mean I have to answer and entertain every opinion. It doesn’t mean I have to invite opinions to my party.
Now is not the time to read those 1-star reviews. Now is not the time to hunch over your computer at 2am googling yourself. Why let someone who spent at max 30 minutes writing some four to five sentence scathing review of your novel, something you invested YEARS of your life in, have that much power over you? Plus, what can you actually do about those reviews? You can’t stop or control them. So spend more time focusing on what you can control. Like writing new books, celebrating with people who love and are proud of you, and being grateful that you’ve come this far! And if that means ignoring the fire slowly building around you as an act of self-care, then turn a blind eye and keep moving forward. If only for a little while.
