You don’t have to take feedback. You’re allowed to post what the hell you want, so long as it doesn’t qualify as harassment or spam. But there’s something you need to know about the creative process: our projects often become something very different than what we initially set out to make, and that’s generally for the best.
I have a novel in the works that started out as a mythology-inspired buddy comedy. It could’ve been a YA novel with the way it was going. However, after learning more about my subject matter, I realized that the novel I initially set out to make was never going to turn out good because it simply had no substance. I was pursuing so many ideas just because they sounded novel and not because they’d ever amount to anything actually interesting, and I was missing out on telling a very different story–one that might actually offer some social commentary as well as a more emotional, fulfilling narrative, even if it certainly wasn’t kid-friendly anymore.
This process continued after I started university, where I wrote excerpts for my writing classes and received feedback. I realized that the direction I was taking my protagonist, even though I thought it was a good idea, made him really annoying and unlikeable. Without feedback from other people, I wouldn’t have realized this until it was too late, and the book’s eventual publication would certainly flop.
The book, on its current trajectory, is very different from how it started years ago, and it’ll undoubtedly change even more as I go forward. That’s ok. It’s still my book because I’m writing it the way only I can. But to make sure it doesn’t suck, I need to know what other people think about it. My reasons for starting the project don’t have to figure into the final product. I wanted to write a silly comedy. I ended up with a dark, political story about PTSD, largely because I accepted change and feedback as a natural part of the creative process.
Take feedback or don’t. It’s up to you. But again, if you really want your Tuyet canonized, you need to be open to the idea that your Tuyet can change and improve in ways you didn’t expect. I submitted a Tahu revamp a while ago, and I got feedback on his color scheme that I didn’t even consider. I wasn’t sure how to incorporate it, but I tried to remedy it, and it worked. I didn’t want to do it at first, but once I did, I saw the merit of the suggestion.
