{"id":19071,"date":"2018-05-04T01:00:15","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T08:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=19071"},"modified":"2018-05-10T22:39:45","modified_gmt":"2018-05-11T05:39:45","slug":"making-mistakes-why-we-should-by-catharine-bramkamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/04\/making-mistakes-why-we-should-by-catharine-bramkamp\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Mistakes: Why We Should by Catharine Bramkamp"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Making<\/a>Let\u2019s welcome back monthly columnist\u00a0Catharine Bramkamp<\/a>\u00a0as she shares with us about \u201cMaking Mistakes: Why We Should.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

I taught a four-week journaling class, and at their request,<\/strong> created a (unplanned) PDF from the slides\u00a0along with additional material, turning the project around in a couple days.<\/p>\n

I also created and scheduled a monthly meet-up. At the first meeting, Donna, one of the students arrived at the cafe, sat down and announced she found typos in the handout.<\/p>\n

She was the first to find and announce my mistakes.\u00a0 She had won.<\/h2>\n

\u201cIt is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. \u201c<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You have these critics in your life.\u00a0<\/strong>We all do.<\/p>\n

It is one of the biggest obstacles and frustrations for writers, and frankly, all creatives. Critics are righteous about being right.<\/p>\n

They are confident where writers are timid. They are certain where artists have doubts.<\/p>\n

Critics can be so terrifying creatives will simply stop creating anything just to avoid self- satisfied censor and negative comments.<\/p>\n

We will work over an essay or a painting until holes are worn in the canvas and book chapters lose all color and light because we are so afraid of the critic, of making a mistake.<\/p>\n

I thanked Donna and asked her to send me her list of my mistakes so I could correct them.<\/p>\n

She replied, “Oh, there were just too many to count.”<\/p>\n

In other words, she had no intention to helping, of moving a project forward. Her goal was to make sure that in this meeting, in this exchange, she was right and I was wrong. That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

My own take-away was that I wasn\u2019t\u00a0completely crushed and demoralized.<\/p>\n

Because after working on all sorts of projects and presentations\u00a0I have internalized the assertion that \u00a0\u00a0\u201ccredit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood. . .\u201d<\/p>\n

Gladiators are different from spectators.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Gladiators are different from spectators. What I have found is that those who work in the arena, covered in dust and sweat and blood, are much kinder to their fellow combatants.<\/p>\n

When you know what it is like to create you are far less likely to criticize, and far more likely to be helpful and encouraging. And if you tend to be critical just to be right, here is your chance to change.<\/p>\n