Writers are generally sensitive, creative souls. If we weren’t, how could we write with such great insight and passion about our chosen topic(s)? Criticism can hurt. Giving your proposal or manuscript to someone to read and to provide feedback on can be nothing short of terrifying. There are few times in a writer’s life where we feel more vulnerable than receiving someone’s blunt assessment on our work – our work that we have spent weeks, months and years working on and dreaming about.