Crucially, I think your comment actually backs up my point. The positive reinforcement I’m talking about happens at school, so university students are unprepared for real, if constructive, criticism. Your loss of confidence at university could have simply come from not being exposed to such criticism – and learning how to handle it – earlier on in education.

However, obviously I wasn’t there, so I don’t know how your university feedback was presented. Maybe it was done badly.

But – and this is a crucial point that you raise yourself – if it made you work harder that’s kind of the point. Although it might have felt painful at the time, it certainly couldn’t have really destroyed your confidence because your work experience was a success.

This is a tricky area and I really do welcome feedback on it. I think it’s vitally important to be able to process criticism – and the better equipped students are to do this, the easier they will be able to separate out valid, constructive criticism from ill-thought-out abuse.

It wasn’t until I wrote a feature whilst on work experience that I realised that my work wasn’t awful, and my articles went to print relatively untouched. When the editor made any changes or suggestions, she explained her decisions in detail and showed me how to improve.

In spite of this, I don’t resent the university for its stance, because it made me work harder.

I struggle with this with young journalists, too. Somehow they need to understand that criticism isn’t bad – it doesn’t mean that you are shit, or that you won’t ever be any good. On the contrary, it’s about helping you be better.

Oh, and they need to understand that it’s part and parcel of being a professional writer. Amateurs don’t need to care, or need to be any good, because it doesn’t matter to them.

But this is paying our bills. It’s too important to be treated lightly.