Some years ago, I found a brochure in my
letterbox advertising a beginner’s class in watercolours. It would only take up three Saturdays, so I
thought I’d give it a try. At the first
lesson, Margaret the instructor showed us how to stretch our paper and apply
different kinds of washes. So far, so
good. My paper was damp and stretched on
my board. My background washes were
passable. My brush was poised to add the
dark silhouette of a tree. And then … disaster
struck. The tree was deformed, the
colour was too dark. I tried to fix it,
but each brushstroke only made it worse.
Margaret walked around the room, commenting on each person’s
masterpiece. By the time she got to me,
I was disheartened and embarrassed. ‘I’ve mucked up the tree,’ I blurted out. ‘It’s hideous.’
'But look at these lovely colours you have
in the sky,' she said, pointing to a tiny patch in amongst the branches.
She was right. I did have some lovely colours in one tiny
square of the painting. I’ll never give
Monet a run for his money, but those words of encouragement kept me going. I did twelve lessons with Margaret and a
number of workshops with other artists. Some
of my pieces have been good enough to give as gifts. I won an encouragement award at an art show. I later took up acrylics and managed to sell
one of my works. If my teacher hadn’t
found something good in my very first painting, I probably wouldn’t have turned
up for Lesson 2.
This made me think about my writing
journey. I’ve had a lot of positive
feedback over the years, but there have also been detractors. A work colleague made me feel inadequate because
I hadn’t published as many academic papers as him. His reaction made me lose heart. A friend scoffed at my idea of publishing a
poetry collection. It was another 25
years before I started writing poetry again.
Now I’m older and wiser, I try not to let other people’s opinions
dictate whether I can pursue my dreams or not.
God’s opinion is what matters.
However, He also made us for relationship. The words of other people, especially those we love
and trust, can have an effect for good or bad.
How do you respond to the creative efforts
of others? Do you pick out every
spelling mistake and grammatical error, but fail to see the big picture of what
they’re trying to communicate? Do you
criticise works that aren’t your cup of tea, yet neglect the beautiful imagery
the author has used? I admit I’ve been too
critical at times. As an editor, it’s
easy to look for all of the problems without taking enough time to comment on
the things that are done well. I’m not
suggesting we give people false hope and pretend their work is wonderful when
it’s sorely lacking. My art teacher
sometimes took the brush out of my hand and demonstrated a technique to help me
improve. However, she also told me what
was good.
Let’s make a habit of giving constructive
feedback to help each other be the best we can be, but let’s also give
encouragement. Whether we’re beginners in
the starting blocks or seasoned professionals with lots of runs on the board, those
cheers from the side lines can spur us on to greater heights.
Nola
Passmore is a freelance writer who has had more than 140 short
pieces published, including devotionals, true stories, magazine articles,
academic papers, poetry and short fiction. She loves sharing what
God has done in her life and encouraging others to do the same. She and
her husband Tim have their own freelance writing and editing business called
The Write Flourish. You can find her weekly writing tips blog at their
website: http://www.thewriteflourish.com.au
