Great points, Maria. I especially liked what you said here: "We have to be steadfast and believe in ourselves enough to not let the negative comments discourage us but to examine them for anything we might use to improve our writing going forward."

The way I've often thought about feedback is that I need to find the "nugget of truth" in every message. If someone hates something that I've written, it doesn't necessarily mean it was a horrible story. It just means the story didn't resonate with that one person, and I can often take something out of that, like learning what stories connect with specific target markets or hearing some of the issues they had with my story that could be things I can improve in my next story.

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts, and best of luck with your writing!