Distance Yourself From Your Writing

Your writing is a part of you; and extension of your being. If you’ve poured your heart into your written work, it will seem like any attack on your writing is an attack on you personally.
This is understandable, of course. All artists suffer from this, I believe. Creativity is an outpouring of yourself in a very personal way. Fiction and poetry tend to be noticeably more personal; but non-fiction is also a demonstration of your talents, and can of course be about sensitive matters too.
Yet – all writers know (in theory at least) that critiques are valuable, and should be carefully considered, as they could make the difference between success and failure for publication. So – how do you deal with criticism of something that is so close to your very being?
Distance yourself from your writing.
Rather than holding on to the thought that this writing is YOU; see it instead as an extension of yourself; as your child, perhaps, rather than you yourself.
Actually, writing is a little like raising children, I think. At first your children are totally dependent on you, but as the years go by, you gradually train them to be more independent so they can manage on their own in the big wide world. When they are little, any failure on their part, or criticism of them, can seem like your own failure as a parent. By the time they are ready to leave home, however, you have to let them go. It can be hard to do this, (I know that from personal experience!) but they have to be able to make their own mistakes. A parent who holds too closely to their children at this stage is doing them (and him or her self) a disservice.
To hold to your writing too closely when it needs to be able to face criticism for its own failings (and encouragement for its merits, which is important too of course) is also doing it a disservice.
When your writing is past those early draft stages while it is totally dependent on you, and it’s begun to ‘grow up’ enough to face the big wide world, its mistakes do not need to be seen as your failures. As its ‘parent’, you will almost certainly still have work to do; but you will find it too hard to do that if you are holding it too close to your heart.
When you have been able to release your written work like a young adult into the world, facing criticisms both good and bad, you now have the privilege of starting again. You can learn from the criticisms your previous creations encountered, and become a better creator for it.
Do you need help to write better? Do you want some inspiration to put your thoughts into words? Could you do with some encouragement to develop your writing skills?