I recently posted a short story of mine on a short fiction website. I remember my heart pounding as I opened the email that contained the first review of my first story. I had to read the sentence over and over again, and my enthusiasm sank with each word.

An insult. An insult and a bad review lay before me. The first story that I had ever placed online apparently was awful.

I’m sure you know the feeling; your confidence is dented, questions fly around your head, you even feel embarrassed.
I kept on telling myself to forget about the review.

Believe me when I say the expression “Easier said than done” couldn’t be more true. I did hold the knowledge that just because one person hated my story, didn’t mean that I could no longer write. Still, that one email lowered my confidence for the rest of the night. But what I learned not more than five minutes after writing this article is that this sort of situation is often uplifted by a sense of humor.

You see, the title of this story is called “A Night Best Forgotten”. The comment was: “You’re right. This story is best forgotten.”

I was sitting here, typing, when I told my dad about the review. However, the response I got from him was opposite of what I had expected.

He laughed. Just laughed.

I shouted, “It’s not funny!”

“I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s funny.” He replied, still laughing.

And do you know what happened next? I found myself laughing too. Turning that review into a funny situation made all the difference.

I guess the bottom line is, for all of you great writers out there, don’t let one bad review slow you down. Besides, those critics probably have a very small sense of humor.