I was just over at Killer Year, which is a murder mystery site, reading the article ‘Bruised Egos’, which is about the impact of critics on a writer.
The Killer Year article made me remember an email I received from a reader of a short story I’d put on one of my free online short story sites which I was quite proud of.
The article dealt with the question of who was the ultimate arbiter of quality and how different were people’s opinions of the same short story.
For me, at the end of the day, it’s the feeling of “Oh my God, did I write that … yes!” when I go back and read my stories after the passage of some time, that tells me I’ve done a good job.
Some stuff I read the other day, that I’d written a long time ago, almost moved me to tears … (on the other hand, maybe the story is just a mental fit because I wrote it).
My worst experience by a critic was a reader who emailed me and accused me of plagiarising Agatha Christie. I wrote back saying I’d never actually knowingly read her stuff because I’ve never really been able to get into it. On the other hand, I admitted her stories had been on television lots and maybe I’d picked up a story line without being aware. I ended up by saying how hurting I found her comments, when all I was trying to do was put free original short stories online for other people’s pleasure.
She wrote me back saying maybe she’d been over harsh and said to call it quits but that was years ago and the memory still stays with me.
Maybe there’s a good murder mystery based around killing a critic … But then Agatha Christie has probably done it already 
Bye for now
Rob
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