If you privately decide that the critic is an idiot or a bigot and their criticism isn't worth squat, that's your business. But it's pretty unfair to tell them to their face that they're an idiot or a bigot and their criticism isn't worth squat after you asked for their opinion and they gave you what you asked for. As a beta-reader I've been stung by this kind of response a few times now, in spite of making every effort to be tactful in my criticism and to give the author a fair chance, and it really makes me not want to read or comment on other people's work at all.
Ouch. Well, nobody could accurately call you an idiot. And while you may have unresolvable and frustrating philosophical differences with people now and again, it wouldn't be accurate to call you a bigot either. Stubborn, maybe. :)
I have a great hunger for squee, which up till recently was coupled with an attitude toward my work much like yahtzee63's above -- that once it was done it was done for good or ill. I did, however, acquire a couple of betas after a prolonged courtship process who taught me the virtue of changing my mind about something (or anything) in my work.
I also agree with sabrinanymph that my reaction to beta criticism is often a good index of how well-deserved or on-the-money it is. Of course, my response to criticism of either a general or minute kind is to bang my head on the piano keys like that muppet on Sesame Street: "Oh, I'll never get it. Never, NEVER!" Once that drama-queeniness is out of the way I can usually get down to work.
As for concrit not specifically asked for from me, I never give it. If I don't know the person or the work well, I'm liable to be inaccurate. If I do know the person but know that my criticism would be so unpalatable or drastic as to be unusable, there's no point in hurting the author to no purpose, especially if I wasn't invited to do so in the context of a longterm working relationship. By the same token, I don't want to receive it either, and so far I seem to have gotten what I want on that score. *shrug*
I am a writer, full stop, but I do constantly contextualize how I give and receive feedback, sometimes to the point that the workings of feedback take on a life of their own. I rather think this is unavoidable, at least for me.
no subject
Ouch. Well, nobody could accurately call you an idiot. And while you may have unresolvable and frustrating philosophical differences with people now and again, it wouldn't be accurate to call you a bigot either. Stubborn, maybe. :)
I have a great hunger for squee, which up till recently was coupled with an attitude toward my work much like
I also agree with
As for concrit not specifically asked for from me, I never give it. If I don't know the person or the work well, I'm liable to be inaccurate. If I do know the person but know that my criticism would be so unpalatable or drastic as to be unusable, there's no point in hurting the author to no purpose, especially if I wasn't invited to do so in the context of a longterm working relationship. By the same token, I don't want to receive it either, and so far I seem to have gotten what I want on that score. *shrug*
I am a writer, full stop, but I do constantly contextualize how I give and receive feedback, sometimes to the point that the workings of feedback take on a life of their own. I rather think this is unavoidable, at least for me.