Criticizing Others

I have always seemed to need to criticize. I call it “my judging mind.” Whether it’s politicians making what I believe are wrong choices, or TV commercials about medications, I never seem to grow tired of analyzing them.

This character flaw of the “judging mind,” also applies to friends and relatives. When they’re struggling, I tend to offer constructive criticism that really is only my need to feel superior. If these friends and relatives are successful, I also have trouble being happy for their good fortune because of my own feelings of inferiority. I believe that I too should be successful.

For my generation another form of criticism is authority figures who constantly tell us to “do our best.” This is fine because it promotes self-effort and determination. However, it also implies that we’re not good enough, and so we are stuck with feelings of inadequacy. Since we can always do better and improve, we may never accept ourselves without conditions. We must constantly do better.

Today, I think the opposite is sometimes true for children and teens. They are often praised for the slightest bit of self-effort which really boosts their self-confidence. The problem with this, I think, is the need created for approval for anything children do even if it is trivial. I suppose the truly important thing is to recognize that everyone is important no matter how successful they are in their endeavors.

I had an experience about eight months ago that made me take a hard look at my attitude and behavior in regard to criticizing others. I had finished the third rewrite of my sci-fi fantasy novel, The Northland Chronicles: Mother World in Peril, and decided to have it professionally reviewed. The novel was placed on a list of books that were picked to be reviewed by individual who were experienced in reviewing authors’ work. My book wasn’t picked for the longest time, and when it was I had a soul crushing experience. The reviewer for my book tore it to shreds. He stated it was so bad that despite effort to “soldier through it,” my book was so bad he couldn’t even finish it. He described my characters as flat, and my plot too slow in development. He wrote that the book was awful, it needed a total rewrite and even then, it probably couldn’t be salvaged.

This experience devastated me and I stopped marketing my book. Needless to say, I deleted the review immediately. I was mortified and embarrassed that my book was considered to be so lousy by a professional reviewer.

Finally, my wife Donna encouraged me to have my book professionally reviewed by The OnlineBookClub and also to be considered for their book of the day promotion. I had to pay for it, but reviewers could get a free eBook if they were willing to do a review of my novel.

The initial professional review gave my book 5 out of 5 stars. Then, to my utter astonishment, after over fifteen reviews from the book of the day promotion, I received at least 4 out of 5 stars (and a number of 5 out of 5 stars) and the comments were overwhelmingly positive. The reviewers loved the plot and characters and considered my themes timely and persuasive. In short, the reviewers all loved my book.

Then of course, I remembered the awful review I received because of the reviewer’s bias and preconceived ideas about fantasy novels. The experiences I had with both good and bad reviewers taught me a valuable lesson for my own attitudes. Generally, criticism is really not helpful and often even hurtful. It can affect the self-confidence and self-esteem of others while I’m trying to feel superior in some way. I try to remember that I, myself, have difficulty with even constructive criticism and now I’m much more careful about my comments. Sometimes I refrain from making any negative comments at all. I’d like to finish today by sharing one of my many positive reviews about my novel. Thanks so much for your support and I’ll see you next week!

(Please remember these are my own ideas, and I’m not attempting to persuade anyone to change theirs.)

Review of Northland Chronicles: Mother World in Peril

Postby: Kehinde Olanrewaju (OnlineBookClub) » 29 Jun 2025

The book Northland Chronicles – Mother World in Peril by John Frederick Zurn is an exciting fictional story that mainly centers on eight expedition members who seek to stop problems arising from a very dangerous surge in Northland. Although the expedition members fought hard and relentlessly in the hope of stopping the surge, they encountered problems that caused delays and led to other challenges. The book uses fictional characters to depict the contrast between nature developing in its natural form and the development of modern technology, making it a rural versus urban clash.

The book starts off with Arjan Gabriel, a seventeen-year-old teenager whose curiosity and adventurous nature led him to Radhana, who is a gifted female tracker and also the leader of the expedition. With Radhana being a natural leader, she managed to lead the seven expedition members with the aid and guidance of Baben, who is a cosmic being and the only one the expedition could count on when they encounter challenges they can't bear.

Although Arjan is the sponsor of the expedition, he also caused trouble for the expedition because of his doubtful and confident nature. He led the expedition to some unnecessary halts. The expedition members became so frustrated with Arjan that he had to be left behind. Eventually, it was revealed to the expedition that Arjan himself is one of the solutions to the surge. I wish I could tell you more, but why don't you delve into this intriguing novel to get the full fun!

The book is well-paced, making the story easy to follow and comprehend, and also allowing for easy readability. The author did a great job in the seamless narrative of the story by properly and effectively linking and weaving scenes together—so much so that it makes sense and doesn't get twisted in such a way that the readers get confused or find it hard to follow the scenes as they become interwoven.

The character development is perfect. Through the author's skillful narrative, it becomes easy to have a picture in mind of what a character looks like and what their present environment and situation resemble, thus causing readers to stay and feel connected to the novel and characters.

Through the book, I have been able to learn better grammar structure, usage, and most especially, I've enjoyed its poetic rhythm since I'm a poet. Therefore, I state that this book is the best and suitable for all who can read and is very helpful to build your English grammar, especially if you seek a good command of the English language through reading. Although the book has a few spelling errors in a few places, I think it's normal since no one is perfect.

I recommend the book to anyone who seeks engaging, compelling, and suspenseful fictional stories.

I rate the book 4 out of 5. It contains no explicit content, has proper pacing and narrative, and has the ability to create a proper image through accurate descriptions of characters, events, and their environment. This book is one you don't want to miss reading.

Quotes:

“Criticism is an indirect form of self-boasting.” Emmet Fox

“Everyone is critical of the flaws of others, but blind to their own.” Arabic Proverb

“Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain-and most fools do.” Dale Carnegie

​https://www.facebook.com/writerjohnfzurn​

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