If you’re a writer, you may start out thin-skinned, but if you’re to survive, you can’t possibly stay that way. Most writers fall into the craft because of some strategically-timed compliments, generally given by authority figures and well-meaning English teachers in our formative years. This is usually coupled with an insatiable appetite for reading.

You’ve heard the saying, everyone has a book inside. Maybe they do. An analogy, if I may. Everyone has 20 feet of tangled small intestine inside, too. Not too many are lining up to bring it out for exhibition though, and there’s a reason for that. Ask any author who’s actually written a book if I’m exaggerating. And, not to be the killjoy, but writing the thing’s not even the hardest part (if you’re traditionally publishing).

One of my students asked how she’d get through her workshop critique, and I recorded this little video.