Forget thick skin, I want dragon scales.

Every writer knows the tension and anxiety that comes with getting reviews. Just reaching that stage is an exercise in rejection.

You have your beta readers and critique partners telling you when something isn't working. Then, there's the submission process. Hello disappointment!  If you're fortunate enough, someone will offer you a contract. In truth, that happy little bubble of validation is a delicate thing. One prick, and poof, it's gone.

Our literary creations are as close to our hearts as our children or treasured pets. We put a lot of thought, time, energy, ourselves, into them. We bleed, cry, laugh, and bond with our characters. But there comes a day when we have to gather up those pages and send them out into the world without us. It's a lot like seeing your child onto the school bus for the first time. Scary, and for some, a little traumatic.

Will people be kind to your brainchild? Will they treat it gently, understand why it developed this way rather than that? There are so many variables to take into account. Some people prefer plot-driven over character-driven stories. Others might be sensitive to certain points-of-view. Sentence structure and flow can be wrong for the reader, so a writer's voice will bother them.

Waiting for feedback, knowing how varied opinions and tastes are, can be downright nerve-wracking for a writer. We clutch those positive responses to our chests and let out the shaky breath we'd been holding. But what about those sharp critiques that cut us to the bone? What about those dismal stars with no explanations whatsoever? 

We're told even negative reviews are still good because most people understand tastes really do vary. Our friends and supporters encourage us to shrug them off, ignore them. You'll never please everybody. All true. But even thick skin isn't impervious to abrasions. 

This is why I want dragon scales. Something lovely, iridescent, and hard to penetrate. Wouldn't that be great? Since I'm at it, maybe I'll throw some wings into the fantasy, too. I'll swoop out of the clouds and chase down those nasty negatives and with a delicate, modest little belch of flame, turn them to ashes that disintegrate on the wind as my wings sweep me up into the deep blue sky once again. 

Oh sure, there will still be arrows turned in my direction, but they'll bounce off my diamond hard armor and find no purchase in the tender flesh beneath. I'm thinking blue scales. I could disappear against the sky and ride my fantasy like a wind current. 

Who wants to join me in a free spirited frolic? What color scales would you choose?


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*This post originally shared on my old blog 2/16/2013.