Question with 18 notes

Anonymous asked:

I've always seen you taking criticism very well from many people. I see a lot of people, not even just voice actors, who can't and don't. I started thinking it's something you can grow out of, but I see people who have been like this for a long time, or people who are older than me who still do that. How do you go about learning to take criticism, or telling others that they should be able to? Have you dealt with this before?

This is a very very good question.

Now, speaking for myself, I personally think anyone telling me what I’m doing wrong, kind or not, is worth me listening to. If I know there’s a flaw people are seeing, I’ll consider working at it.

To expand it a bit, speaking for all people who practice various art forms, criticism is welcomed. Many people I know who are good at what they do wait around for one person to tell them what they’re doing wrong. And it stands out to them among all the praise they get otherwise. They don’t need to show a badge or a resume to have the ability to point out something they see wrong. And from what I’ve seen, the best of the best don’t expect them to.

Anyone who wants to take their skills seriously LOVES to hear about where they may be going wrong. If you’re not open to hear someone telling you what you could be doing better, I don’t really think you should consider yourself a serious artist, actor, musician, what have you.

Sadly, I think that is the line that separates those cut out for whatever they’re doing, and those who aren’t. You just can’t teach someone to react that way. It has to do with the person’s own personality and their own dedication to their craft.

There’s a quote about bands I’ve brought up before, “There’s more to being valuable to your band than what you can do with an instrument.” This applies to any art form whatsoever! There’s a lot more to being a valuable person, or a valuable member of a community or a voice acting troupe or whatever than what you can do with the set of skills you have.

The people who don’t get that have to learn it themselves. They have to make a conscious effort, a conscious decision to look at things a different way. If they shut out outside influence, and outside opinions, they’re gonna shut out the suggestion to do things differently, anyway. It’s a waste to try to convince them. If they’re serious about what they’re doing, they’re going to hit a point where they realize they need to look at things like this, or they’re going to stay stagnant with the attitude they have.

Have I dealt with people like this before? Sure. In a lot of the different things I’ve done around the internet. But here’s the breaks: I don’t work with those people. If I see that someone’s personality is that unfavorable, if their ideas of their trade are that skewed, I just don’t work with them. I don’t befriend them. They are not compatible with me. I can’t say that works for everyone, if some people have friends of friends they can’t stand or whatever because of this, but that’s just how things work for me, I suppose.

To sum it all up, people who think they’re immune to criticism will eventually get a wake-up call, or they will be left behind when everyone else embraces it. Those who don’t ask critics to show a badge of their accomplishments tend to have a better idea, and a more open minded view, of what they need to work on than those who think only a select few have the right to point out their flaws. These traits are human nature, though, and you can’t really force anyone to be more open minded about things.

Tagged: TW: ASK voice acting criticism

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