Hello, friends. Today’s post is a bit different, as it is a response to a conversation happening elsewhere at Substack, which led me down the rabbit hole of a story of literary jealousy and intrigue. If you’ve ever had a “bad art friend,” read on…but trust me, you may fall down the rabbit hole too. If you’re just here at The Caffeinated Writer for the craft, you might enjoy reading the series
Sep 3, 2023·edited Sep 3, 2023Liked by Michelle Richmond
The literary jealousy and bad reviews among famous writers in this post reminded me of an amazing comment from Joyce Carol Oates in her memoir "A Widow's Story": "Widowhood is the punishment for having been a wife. Vicious reviews, opprobrium of all sorts are the writer's punishment for being a writer." What a startling comparison of one fact of life to another. No matter how excellent a writer may be, they are likely to be torn into pieces by someone not so excellent and way too jealous. Was trying to think of some redemptive realization about that and the only good thing is the excellence achieved. And that Joyce Carol Oates excellently goes on being herself no matter what anyone says or writes about her. Best defense is apparently pursuing the offense of being a better, more productive and more excellent writer then anyone could have ever expected.
The literary jealousy and bad reviews among famous writers in this post reminded me of an amazing comment from Joyce Carol Oates in her memoir "A Widow's Story": "Widowhood is the punishment for having been a wife. Vicious reviews, opprobrium of all sorts are the writer's punishment for being a writer." What a startling comparison of one fact of life to another. No matter how excellent a writer may be, they are likely to be torn into pieces by someone not so excellent and way too jealous. Was trying to think of some redemptive realization about that and the only good thing is the excellence achieved. And that Joyce Carol Oates excellently goes on being herself no matter what anyone says or writes about her. Best defense is apparently pursuing the offense of being a better, more productive and more excellent writer then anyone could have ever expected.
Indeed! The best and most meaningful response to criticism is to simply keep doing the work.
Omg I’m reading all of this now. I had no idea. Fascinated!!!!!!!