“
My dear young man, don’t take it too hard. Your work is ingenious. It’s quality work. And there are simply too many notes, that’s all.”
I laughed when I first heard these lines from the movie Amadeus. Only an Emperor would tell a genius composer his musical score contained too many notes. I studied piano from the time I was 5; I’ve played Mozart. Every note is placed perfectly for maximum beauty of sound.
“Oh my God! This is your blog?! It has too many words!” 
I felt Mozart’s confusion and pain. I checked the word count – exactly 161. The word count was exactly what I needed it to be to convey my message. There were neither too few or too many words. The judgment was based on the paragraph size; not on the words the paragraph contained, or the message conveyed by the words.
“Remember English and Journalism classes? You should condense that down to 1 sentence.”
I won awards for my journalist writing; albeit many years ago. So I’m rusty…but I’m not THAT rusty! And if the goal of journalistic writing is to sum up an event in 1 sentence, then the goal of English composition is to draw the reader into the story. Two different styles of writing. I’m composing – not reporting.
And I hate that I let the critic get under my skin. If, in the words of Shakespeare, “all the world’s a stage” then every audience member is a critic. Criticism should be constructive – “constructive criticism”. It’s intent should be to hone the recipient’s skills – cause their understanding of their craft to increase, become refined. It teaches without being demeaning.
Unwarranted criticism is most often destructive. Hearing or reading it may, at first, bring confusion and a What the Hell? response; but if it drains the creativity, then it’s destructive and, in my opinion, should be discarded.
The movie, Amadeus, won best picture for depicting the interplay between Mozart and his critics. Mozart continued to write his music with as many notes as he wanted. So I decided to do the same. I wrote more words. And I will continue writing words. As many as I need to get my thoughts coherently on the screen. Don’t be dissuaded by anyone in your writing efforts…not even an Emperor.
“You are not the only composer in Vienna, Mozart.
“No, but I’m the best”
KSOENTPS.ROCKS 