How do you shut up the "STUPID"?

You know what I mean...that snotty voice in your head. You know, the guy (or gal) figuratively reading over your shoulder that snorts in disgust at every turn of phrase, the swotty little turd that laughs at the parts that aren't supposed to be funny, and worst of all, the insufferable know-it-all reviewer you've never had yet that tells you, "My God, I think that's the biggest piece of tripe I've ever read in my life! Did you really think you had some skill, or *gasp*, talent? Bwahahahaha! Excuse me while I go wipe my behind with this thing you call a manuscript."

Er, okay, perhaps I went a bit overboard there, but since this is the brick wall I'm currently beating my skull against, I think I'm entitled to bit of hyperbole.

I've been struggling for over a month now to pound out 7,000 words of a story that I actually like, but every time I come back to it, the last few lines drive me insane! It's like they were written by an alien...I can't understand how I ever thought it was good, or that I've stupidly written my character into a corner, or some such.

I just recently decided that blasting my MP3 player and just skipping over the troublesome parts, or cutting them short is the route I'm going to take. I imagine it's going to cause me some trouble once I finally get to the rewrite stage, but I'm at a loss as to what else I can do.

This is my first serious attempt at a novel in ages, and I've never managed to finish one yet. Short stories are great, but I really want to push myself to do this.

Anyone else struggle with silencing their inner critic? How do you deal with it? (Short of gagging him/her and shoving them into a closet, that is, ha ha)

Oh, and hi, BTW. *waves* Newbie here.

NeuroFizz said:

Either don't write stupid, or don't give "the stupid" a voice. Second-guessing is normal, but it should never get to the point that it stops you from writing. Look around. There is no other person in the room. There is just you. You can keep writing with the intent of giving it a good go-over on the second draft, or you can cripple yourself now with that second-guessing (blaming it on some non-existent entity). Your choice.

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Thanks, everyone, for the advice. I know you are right, it's just difficult to not get in my own way sometimes.

Just for the record, I'm not "blaming" this on some non-existent entity. I mean, c'mon, the writing comes from me, so I'm pretty sure that the inner critic comes from me, too. I am not delusional...yet. I'm just very frustrated at this tendency I have to sneer at my own work before I really get going on it, even when I *know* it's actually a pretty darn good idea. I figured I am not alone in this, and I was curious to see what other people do to get past it.

Maybe I should re-consider posting late at night, though. I thought it was pretty obvious I was taking a poke at myself. *scratches head*

Thanks again for the advice. Tried and true is called that for a reason, and I ought to remember that!

a_sharp said:

I don't hear that voice anymore, but maybe it has to do with developing my own. Sort of like davids's "nagging little man." That voice is so busy putting words down that there's no room for any other.

It's more of a problem (but not serious) between writing sessions, or on restarting from where I stopped yesterday. A certain amount of reread is essential there just to get in the groove, and I sometimes get hung up because of flaws that emerge then and there. My solution is to bull ahead and get my "little man" shouting again.

Good metaphor, davids.

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That's my dilemma, to a "T". My solution so far is to crank up the music, and just kinda rock out, and write whatever comes to mind. So far (two whole days, yay for me! LOL) it seems to be working.