Susan Henderson On How to Deal with Failure & Critique

Susan Henderson is a five-time Pushcart Prize nominee and the recipient of an Academy of American Poets award. She is the author of the novels, Up from the Blue (HarperCollins, 2010) and The Flicker of Old Dreams (HarperCollins, 2018). She blogs at litpark.com, which is a supportive community of writers and artists who are in this game for the long haul.

Sue grew up in a family of overachieving scientists and engineers yet created her own path as an author. We talk about how she navigated that journey; why she stopped writing for 10 years; how she deals with failure and critique; how a janitor in her high school taught her how to give good feedback; and why you should read the 1 and 2-star reviews of the artists you admire. She also shares great practical advice for aspiring writers.

Her latest book, The Flicker of Old Dreams, is about the death of small-town America as told by a mortician.

-

Get your FREE copy of my e-book. Text OZAN to 345345 or navigate to weeklycontrarian.com to download a free copy of my e-book, The Contrarian Handbook: 8 Principles for Innovating Your Thinking. Along with your free e-book, you’ll get the Weekly Contrarian — a newsletter that challenges conventional wisdom and changes the way we look at the world (plus access to exclusive content for subscribers only).

Don’t want to miss future episodes? Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review on iTunes or Google Play.

As always, thanks for listening.