Once you decide to create something, anything, and send it into the world it will be judged.
There will only be a handful of responses to your efforts.
People will either love it, hate it, or feel completely indifferent.
Of course, we always hope that our work will be enjoyed and appreciated. And if we’ve done our best, and ensured we’ve sent out the very best we were capable of at the time, we can at least stand beside and feel proud of that work. When we’ve done all we can, the chances are good that at least some people will resonate and love it.
But that’s only some people.
Which means, other people will not love it. Other people will hate what you’ve done.
It’s okay, I promise. Remember the old adage, you can only ever hope to please some people some of the time anyway.
I actually think there is something worse than those other people hating your work. At least you made them feel something! And with those feelings, they may my inclined to leave you a terrible one-star review.
Other people read one-star reviews. They are curious about those strong feelings of hate. So curious, one-star reviews can lead a new reader to investigate for themselves what all the fuss was about.
I’d argue there is something much worse than single stars and hatred when it comes to our creative works.
It’s indifference. When a reader either didn’t engage with the work at all, or if they did, they came away feeling nothing.
When a book or movie or any form of art makes you feel nothing, you never bother to say anything at all about it. Why would you? You barely even remember the experience.
No matter who you are, or how amazing your work is, once you put it out into the world it will be criticized and critiqued by others.
Accept that this is true, there is no escaping it, and that it will absolutely happen. Then, do whatever you have to to release any worry fear, or care about it. You can’t control or avoid it, and it happens to everyone brave enough to put their work out into the world.
