Occasionally, I find myself in such a position that it is necessary to give constructive advice or criticism on a piece of literature or art. I like to think that, for the most part, I am reasonable and fair with my judgements, whether they be praise or points upon which to improve.
However, there is one thing which greatly irritates me among such writers and artists which is far too common for my liking.

Now, I like to think that my advice on art and writing is worth quite a bit, since I have a good understanding of the English language, the elements of creative writing, and visual arts such as drawing and painting. While it is true I am not an expert, one cannot really deny that my opinion on something is fairly significant. I'm not trying to blow up my own ego beyond its already considerably stretched and distorted boundaries, but I also like to give myself credit where it is due.

When someone creates something, be it a visual or literal piece, they are putting it up for criticism.
Unfortunately, there appears to be a horrible common misconception among many people pertaining to criticism.

CRITICISM IS GOOD

Many people, -shudder-, seem to have kidded themselves into the painfully ignorant belief that criticism is harmful to creativity, or that it's bad, or mean, or rude, or many other things besides.
They could not be further from the truth!
Criticism is a brilliant thing! Other people will often spot errors, possible improvements or ideas that you might have missed. Everyone's minds work in a different way, and we all have different ways of looking at things. By allowing many people to give their thoughts on your creation, you're exposing it to many different analytical minds, and it will help you improve your skills to the absolute best they can be.

However, if I still have not convinced you, and you are one of those painfully ignorant people who still insist that criticism is a bad thing, and you delete all comments on your one-paragraph-long story which aren't some variation on "WOW AWSUM!!1!1", then listen here.

Don't ask for thoughts if you aren't prepared to accept criticism as well. People who give constructive crit' are really very kind and helpful, since they are taking their precious time to help you improve on your skills, at no cost to yourself. Frankly, you should be thanking them, not cussing them out. You should encourage people to figuratively rip your story or drawing apart, since the more criticism you get, the more you'll be able to improve based on the advice you get.

On a related note, there's a particular saying which seems to have become a stock-phrase for said ignorant people who cannot handle ignorance. It's something of a 'way out' of having to deal with criticism, and frankly it is infuriating as hell, since it is so absurdly stupid.

"In your opinion."

Let's get past the obvious stuff. No person can know the truth about this kind of stuff for certain. There is always this awkward solipsistic blight on the face of knowledge which postulates that, "Yes, technically we can't know anything for certain," so by definition anything a person says which is not some kind of mathematical or logical certainty, is an opinion. Since this comprises 99% of things humans say in everyday conversation, it can be PRESUMED in a conversation that the following sentences will almost definitely be mostly opinion, and it is entirely unnecessary to point out the obvious and waste precious oxygen.

People pointing this out are to the philosophical and logical populace what a person at their great-granddad's funeral saying "Well, at least we won't have to pay for his retirement home any more."
It's stupid, irrelevant and totally outweighed by other factors. It's the solipsism to determinism, the "Well you can't prove God doesn't exist!" to atheism. It's totally and utterly irrelevant and stupid.
The kind of statement which, if you said at a philosophical debate, all the others would look at your parents apologetically and ask "When did he have the accident?"

People seem to be suffering under the delusion that blurting out this phrase will somehow make them exempt from all forms of criticism, since, as we all know, something being your opinion automatically makes it invalid or subjective.

Newsflash, idiots. Opinions can be right or wrong. There are such things as correct opinions and false opinions, and don't you dare kid yourself into believing it's not so. You've already deigned to drag the word 'opinion' through the mud and murder its family to get thus far, so if you so much consider the thought of attempting to summon the audacity to believe that saying 'in your opinion' excuses you of any or all criticism, I will personally come to your house in the middle of the night and scream at you until not only have you crapped yourself, but your crap has crapped itself.

The whole point in putting your creations online is so people can criticise them, either nicely or constructively, and if you just ignore all 'bad' comments and only read the ones reading "THATS SO KUL. I WISH I CULD RIGHT LIEK THT," then you're just reinforcing a stupid circular false-reality that you have more talent than anyone else, and anyone who dares suggest that you might not be the single most perfect being in the universe is a 'hater.'
You couldn't be more of an idiot.

So yeah, next time somebody decides to post some criticism on your story "Wolf blood princess" or "High-school vampire knights," instead of cussing them out, thank them for extending the honour of deigning to offer free advice to someone with a mind as hopelessly empty and naive as your own.

Believe me, it'll save you a lot more humiliation later on in life.