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Yes, Dave, you have to push on.  Not everyone is gonna like everything you write.  I've been on this site for 9 years, and I have received reviews where the reviewer tried to change my entire work to how they would have written it if they'd come up with my idea, but I've had more accolades from reviewers than I deserved also.  Sorry that one review affected your confidence in your writing abilities.  When I do reviews, I try to remember this is not my work, and it's not my ideas, so I work with what the author has written, knowing he/she has a particular goal in mind that I will find out about in an upcoming chapter.  I try to offer grammatical corrections, or thoughts on how your writing could flow better, but I will never tell you you're 100% wrong or that you need to go back to school to learn to write (as someone told me once). 

I was off the site for while tending to a sick husband, and I came back in January of this year.  My first week back I posted something I was working on, something I had spent months honing.  The very first review came from someone who tore my words and my concept apart with no idea what I had planned for the next chapter.  His parting words were hurtful and hateful, way beyond the call of duty.  I took the chapter down because he made me doubt my writing abilities and made me say, "I don't need this shit."  I did get over it and didn't let it cripple me, but it floored me that someone could be so rude.  While I am always open to suggestions and ideas, I don't tolerate rudeness.  There's a right way and a wrong way to critique someone's hard work.  So I feel your pain, and it has nothing to do with how long you've been on the site and everything to do with being kind.  If I don't like what you've written, I obviously don't have to read any more of it, but I believe in being kind in expressing my opinions and ideas because they are, after all, my opinions.   

I'm happy to hear you've decided to incorporate writing into your daily schedule.  You're definitely taking a leap of faith, and I admire the fact you didn't give up.  I agree with your advice to the newbies about hanging in there.

Good luck to you in your endeavors!

MJ

Humpty Dumpty

I tend to agree with Vern.  I, too, have more points than I will ever use, but each one of those points represents a friendship, a comment, a helpful hint, or a suggestion.  I joined this site in 2008, coming in thinking I knew everything!  What a joke!  I knew nothing compared to some of the more seasoned writers on here.  Those writers guided me, taught me, put up with me, and helped me along the way.  In return, I read their posts, how they worded things, how they plotted their stories.  Well, you get what I mean.

There are so many good stories on here from writers who are currently not posting anything.  They've left their stories for us to learn from.  I personally think giving away points takes away from the learning process.  That's my opinion, for what it's worth.

Have a peaceful day, everybody!
MJ

"Quip it up, it's cold out there!"

Do you have Grammarly downloaded and working in the background as you type?  If so, that could be your problem.  For some reason, it slows me down like you describe.  I have to go to my extensions and disable it when I come on this site.  It works fine anywhere else for me, just not here.  Just a thought.

heel and toe

buttermilk biscuits

I'm there for you, my friend!  Throw 'em out there!

chicken stock

My all-time favorite is one from Mark Twain when someone asked him how he wrote such great novels.  He replied, "I get up in the morning, put on a pot of coffee, light a cigar, and just start lying!”

I think about that quote every time I sit down to write fiction.  My inspiration because I can do that, too!

MJ