How can Bush's spending in Iraq justify all of Obama's spending?

I've responded to a few requests for criticism, and then got some pretty nasty comments back - some people that post publicly here are just looking for affirmation or the "you're a superstar!" acknowledgment. I don't think a lot of them are looking for real criticism as they likely have never had it before. The whole system - parents, teachers, friends, etc - is set up to encourage people to dream and to pursue them.

Yet dreams are easy; making them come true is hard. That's a lesson a lot of people either don't get or choose to ignore. Writing, like painting, is a solitary art.

In theatre, music or film it's most often a group effort. The weaknesses of one can be countered by the strengths of others. In a play, if it goes downhill, the finger of "blame" can be spread to amongst the cast & crew.

You have others around you to help you along, help the whole get better or you are the one doing the helping. With writing, it's just you. You pour yourself into your work, whether tapping into personal thoughts and emotions or creating fantastical worlds.

If something goes right, you get all the praise. If it goes wrong, there is no one else to blame but you. It's a tremendous burden at times.

When people start picking apart your ideas, sometimes it's hard not to feel attacked - even though that is the last thing anyone intends. Part of the creative process is having a third party look at your work to point out the flaws that our conviction of our brilliance misses. The first, and most important, thing I advise young writers is take your ego, lock it in a closet for a bit and then settle down for some criticism.

If you cannot seperate your ego from your work, you will not make it in writing. I use this analogy - I like spicy food, really spicy food. But not everyone has my taste.

If I'm having a dinner party, do I make it spicy to my taste and then get mad when no one likes it? Or do I try to find a balance that will please most if not all who eat over? Is it more important to satisfy my taste or the taste of my guests?

The long and short of it is, if you cannot handle criticism, you really need to re-think your career path. If you cannot accept that critiques, editing and revisions are apart of the writer's creative process, it's time to express your art elsewhere or keep your writing personal to you and you alone.

Not to sound like an old codger, but honestly, I get the impression that a lot of the users that ask those questions are young. They have probably spent most of their life being told how wonderful their writing is by their parents and relatives. To be honest, for the most part I think that's good, a parent should be encouraging.

But then they generally aren't prepared for a solid critique. They haven't had enough experience to truly appreciate the growth potential that a good critique brings. Having your writing torn apart hurts a bit, even when you are a seasoned writer.

Imagine being a kid and getting that kind of feedback when you aren't really prepared for it. I don't ask for critiques on here, because I'm old enough and experience enough to know there are better sources out there. No offense to anyone on here but I don't know your credentials from Adam, so I'd rather get my writing advice from sources I trust.

Kids don't always know these things. Also, there is the aspect that you aren't just getting one critique you are getting potentially dozens. So, instead of taking one verbal punching to his/her writing, it's several.

Many artists, especially inexperienced ones, have fragile egos. And let's be honest, people on the internet can be REALLY rude. It's easy to be a terrible, mean person sitting anonymously behind a monitor, so easy a person could be 4 or 5 of those users at once.

While you personally may have given a wonderful thoughtful critique, the asker may have just read 6 absolute devastating ones and they are taking it out on you basically because you gave them more to argue with than "you suck." Or they could just be fishing for compliments and were shocked when they weren't forthcoming.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.