Writing, is, first and foremost a craft of the heart and mind that is undeniably personal. Therefore, please, please, please, take the words against your craft lightly and with a pinch of salt.
There shall always be a learning curve with writing, you will always be learning new things, finding new ways to describe and new ways to put across the ideas you've had for years.
I, personally, never want to put anyone in a position where they feel like they want to quit writing! If you have a passion and enthusiasm for an idea, please don't let anyone take that away from you.
Criticism is something that I struggle with constantly and it takes me a while to understand that not everyone will understand, enjoy or love my work and that's perfectly fine. Something that I have opted to live by in the creative world, is to 'do for yourself and not for others'.
There's an understanding here that you can be valued by your read count, your vote count or your comment count and that's fine; it's good to feed your brain positivity and excitement in that regard; but if those interactions fluctuate, or don't seem to occur at all - try not to take it to heart!
As I said, writing is a personal matter; and it's often an outlet of creativity and passion. If nothing else, write for yourself, let your own world of characters be released and appreciate them yourself. You only need one person's approval of your creativity, and that's yourself. Everyone else is secondary.
I hope each and every person strives in their writing life regardless of the goals you hope to achieve with it. As long as your passion shines brightly, nothing else matters x
