Second star to the right and straight on till morning

(Yes, I know that Disney added the 'star', but I like it, so there.)

Let us establish the current state of affairs. Singers need a pitch note, runners need a strong ready stance, divers need something to dive off...of...erm, these analogies lack a little. But my point stands.

I'm an avid reader, watcher of films and player of games. I also flatter myself that I have some ability to analyse as I enjoy. This is a good starting point for reviewing for fun.

Confession time: I have never been published. Hell, I've never written more than 60,000 words on a novel, though that was a finished NaNo. I've never made something ready for publication by editing it to within an inch of its life. I've submitted one hastily-written piece as part of a competition for a genre I did not get on with, received one rejection for which I am now extremely grateful (it was an awful piece of writing - for a start I *cringe* submitted the first draft rather than the fourth or fifth). I have done National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) two years on the run and won both times, but have not gone back and edited either novel. The closest I've got to finishing a more planned and inspired WIP is halfway (approx. 50,000 words).

The thing I value most is really good constructive criticism that hits the nail on the head. I am rapidly coming to the realisation that I have a hell of a long way to go before becoming a really good writer, and I'd like to think that all writers are still learning after their fiftieth book. Apparently people ask writers where they get their ideas a lot, but as so many writers have answered time and time again, the ideas are the easy part.

I was heartbroken when, at around the age of seven or eight, I wrote a short story about otters, printed it out and gave it to my teacher, expecting to be hailed as a fantastic writer. What I got was "It's pretty good, and it'll be even better after a few drafts." What did she mean? Surely you just wrote an outpouring of inspiration onto the page and then it became a book? All I heard were the criticisms, and it coloured how I took and gave criticism. Sure, it hurt, but it was possibly the best lesson I could have had as a budding writer, and a lot easier to take as a child than as an adult.

I'm not saying we should curb children's inspiration by any means. I suspect it would have put most people off, and I would rather have hundreds of kids who can't take criticism than one put off writing forever, but it was precisely what I needed at the time. So now I value my ability to take reasoned criticism and even though it hurts, I still try to take it. Not that I'll take 'Your writing is rubbish and you don't have a hope in hell' to heart, but it's difficult to see the insides of your head and heart ripped apart as though they were worthless, so I take the good bits and treasure them, and the bad bits are a learning process.