Why you gotta be so mean?

I picked up Taylor Swift's new album, SPEAK NOW, yesterday. The song Mean, in which Taylor tackles a particularly harsh critic, caught my eye (ear...?).

I thought this song was a nice reminder that one person's criticism, whether constructive or cruel, doesn't have to matter. Just because one person thinks you're book is boring or that writing is a waste of time doesn't mean it's true.

The song is also a reminder to be careful how we criticize others.

And while it may not be the most productive thing to call your critics pathetic liars (even though you might be thinking it... ;)), it is smart to keep in mind that 'they don't know what they don't know.'

Mean by Taylor Swift



You, with your words like knives and swords and weapons that you use against me
You have knocked me off my feet again, got me feeling like a nothing
You, with your voice like nails on a chalk board, calling me out when I’m wounded
You, picking on the weaker man
Well you can take me down with just one single blow
But you don’t know what you don’t know

Someday I’ll be living in a big ole city
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean
Someday I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?

You, with your switching sides and your wildfire lies and your humiliation
You have pointed out my flaws again, as if I don’t already see them
I walk with my head down trying to block you out cause I'll never impress you
I just want to feel okay again
I bet you got pushed around
Somebody made you cold
But the cycle ends right now cause you can’t lead me down that road
And you don’t know what you don’t know

Someday I’ll be living in a big old city
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean
Someday I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?

And I can see you years from now in a bar
Talking over a football game with that same big loud opinion
But nobody’s listening
Washed up and ranting about the same old bitter things
Drunk and grumbling on about how I can’t sing
But all you are is mean
All you are is mean
And a liar
And pathetic
And alone in life and mean and mean and mean and mean

But someday I’ll be living in a big old city
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean
Yeah, someday I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean
(Why you gotta be so)
Someday I’ll be living in a big old city
(Why you gotta be so)
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean
Someday I’ll be big enough so you can’t hit me
(Why you gotta be so)
And all you’re ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?

It is not the critic who counts...

When I feel frustrated, I like to look to quotes for inspiration. Here are some of my favorites:

Brevity is the sister of talent. - Anton Chekhov

My writing style is concise, so I like to ponder this quote when I see other authors' word counts and worry my book isn't long enough. Quality over quantity, after all.

If there is a gun hanging on the wall in the first act, it must fire in the third. - Anton Chekhov

This reminds me that everything in a novel must have a purpose.

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

What a powerful notion - in order to achieve success, failure is inevitable. This quote encourages me to keep striving for my dreams, even when I am what is standing in the way of achieving them. It reminds me that I am DOING something with my life, regardless of what "the critic" might say.

Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence. - Vince Lombardi

If you don't believe in yourself, no one else will, either.

When all else fails, I am inspired by this woman's work:

If I ever met her, I'd probably burst into tears!

JK Rowling's writing may not be the most 'literary,' but she created a beloved, rich world full of things that make me happy and sad in all the right ways. I don't necessarily aim to write like her, but I always aim to make my book mean something, which I think she's done rather fabulously!

What are some of your favorite inspirational quotes? What inspires you to keep going when you just want to quit?