This weekend I went to another writing class. I received notes on my work and gave notes, and throughout the entire class all I could think about was opinions and how they can influence a person. When everyone gave me their notes there were different opinions on everything, and some of the opinions were similar, but others were completely opposite. There were times when someone would tell me that it would be best for me to go in a specific way with one character, and the next person would tell me go in the direct other way with the same character. It was astonishing to me how different people’s opinions can be and how they can make you see your own work.
      Similarly to being at an audition, showing your writing to other people can be a big task to step up to. You could have a million different thoughts floating around your head about what will happen when people see your work, how they will feel, and what they will say, but it all boiled down to one thing and one thing only and that is opinion. Here are the two thins you can choose to do with an opinion: internalize it and change it, or understand it and choose to ignore it.
      When I received my notes on my writing, there were some opinions that I saw as very valuable. I wanted to use them because I genuinely think that they make my story more entertaining and better overall. The opinions I did not think that about, I said thank you to the person for giving me their notes, and I quietly moved the document to the trash on my computer. No harm done, no changes done either!
      If you are brave enough to display your art publicly, then you should be brave enough to receive whatever feedback people are going to give you. In acting, this can be the most devastating part, because it is hearing people say “No” to you and not understanding the reason why, and in writing it is hearing people say “We are going in a different direction,” and also not fully having the why behind it. When you are given an opinion that makes you feel bad or that you dislike, you should feel free and able to throw it away!