When you work as a writer and author, developing a split personality is possible. It is actually a highly desirable thing. One aspect of daily life you have to deal with is the pressure of juggling a writing career with your private life. The other aspect lies in the fact that a published author will receive published criticism, too. How to be a bit bipolar?
Most of us are bipolar; we put on shirt and tie and go to the office. The office persona makes the day, then the home persona does the off time. When you work as a writer at home, one of the things you put in place first is a working area apart from your private living space. This helps you to concentrate on your work as an author in a physical sense. It splits your private self from your public author persona like going to the office.
When you publish your writing, it comes under immediate scrutiny. If you're lucky, it will attract a lot of positive reviews. While reviews give a comfortable sense of benevolence, a review is nothing more or less than detailed criticism of your work. Those of your friends who know about your writing will comment about it. This criticism will hits too near to home for comfort.
If your writer persona is identical with your private one, then this can become a strain on your friendships, your relationships, and your daily health as you get constantly bombarded with criticism albeit an unintentional one. As a writer, you will be pushed into a constant defensive position and possibly will miss the good points these critics raise.
Splitting your private self from your writer persona can help you deal with this situation. Let your private self be just another reader of your books and listen to what people have to say. You can tell the writer in yourself later about what has come to pass and have your tantrums during your allocated writing time out of sight and earshot from everybody. But by listening to your critics, you will be able to cherry pick the points where you think improvement is possible and therefore necessary.
It goes without saying that improvement is always possible in all aspects of your writing. If the improvements are what your critics say or what you understand them saying, that is a writing decision. Critics are allowed to be as wrong about something as anyone else. Don't take them too seriously and literally. Follow your gut in what you should change. Don't do blindly what you are told to do. Any fallout from your decision can be dealt with by the private self. It's sort of team work, don't you agree?
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