The Novel Doctor has a few words to say about taking criticism.

But, as the theory goes, if you have a “thick skin,” the review won’t bother you at all. As you read how your protagonist “wouldn’t even be believable playing a stiff on a soap opera” and that your plot “drags more than J. Edgar Hoover” you’ll simply smile while the scent of lavender fills your nostrils and images of puppies and kittens frolicking in a field of poppies fill your mind.

Of course, there are a few problems with this theory, as the doctor explains. I have often thought I take criticism well, but I’m starting to doubt it. At least, I worry that I don’t take it as well as I thought I did. What I need is to put my work out there more aggressively so that more good and bad criticism comes, and I’ll have more practice handling it.