: Re: How can I respond to praise without appearing egotistical? Background Alright, so my friends and English teacher recently found out that I've written novels, and asked to read them. So, I gave

@Debbie451

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It depends on the commenter. Is this a friend who is just being effusive, or someone who's offering constructive criticism (or praise) with an eye toward getting you published? Roughly speaking, it's the difference between your best friend saying "dude, that presentation was awesome!" and your boss saying "Good job with that presentation in front of the bigwigs." Friends can be demurred with empty comments as above. Actual critiques open the conversation to a discussion of technique.

So if your English teacher, for example, is saying that you did a good job with cliffhangers, you can talk about how you plotted them out (or didn't), if you were inspired by another writer or a movie, some of the concerns you had when you were writing it, and so on.

Being egotistical is saying "Yes, I did do a great job! I'm just waiting for the agents to start banging on my door offering me movie contracts. I think it's going to outsell Mark Twain. Teacher, don't you think my novel is better than anything you've assigned in class?"

Discussing the nuts and bolts of your craft is not being egotistical. Courtesously acknowledging that you did something well is not being egotistical. (I mean, isn't that the point of creating? Doing it well? You generally don't set out with the goal of doing something badly.) Assuming that you have done something better than anyone else ever is being egotistical.

You're allowed to say "Thank you! I'm really happy with how it turned out. I loved writing it and I'm so glad other people are enjoying it as well." It's not a sin to take a reasonable amount of pride in a job well done.

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