A couple of questions.

What ways do you shut up your inner critic? I've been on a roll this past week with writing and I noticed on the days I wasn't in my "writing zone" a voice inside my head kept saying stuff like this sucks or no one is going to be interested, blah, blah, blah. It didn't stop me but the voice didn't stop either. No, I promise, I'm not schizophrenic. I'm guessing this is a common problem. So, what do you all do with that voice?


I came to an interesting point in my story, one that I wasn't expecting. I wrote a little piece of dialogue and I realized that this one sentence can send the character into a whole different direction. It wasn't what I had in mind for the character but I stepped back and realized that it kind of excited me to think the character could go in that direction. Should I keep going with it or stick to my guns and keep her on track? My gut is saying go for it but I'm still a newbie at this and was hoping for advice from some of the veterans here.

For your first question, you might want to revisit this thread:

p197.ezboard.com/fabsolut...=927.topic

For your second, I'd vote for following that new branch for a while to see where it leads. Can always go back later to the planned route if it doesn't pan out.

Thanks for the link. I like this idea the best:

If you offer your internal editor equal, but separate time, I'm sure a deal can be a struck. Consider this internal negotiation as preparation for all those external deals you'll be negotiating after the three of you learn to work together.

Talk to your Ego and Self Esteem. I'm sure they're being far too quiet if this internal editor is allowed to run its mouth at will. Perhaps the internal editor is in league with Doubt. Quit feeding your Doubt and you'll weaken the ornery internal editor.

My muse got together with my Ego and Self Esteem and upon killing Doubt, forced my internal editor to a compromise. Now, we're all working together for a common cause--me.

Mari

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I don't think I have an inner critic. All my life I've had outer critics telling me what I can't do because I'm not smart enough, was born to the wrong race, lack the education to do, and "No one wants to hear what a halfbreed has to say," and I just blithely ignore them and do whatever I please.

I think halfbreeds are cool myself.

Now to the question. Sometimes you just have to believe in yourself and the primary goal.

Here's something that I didn't count on. I think I was a fairly good writer all along, and in this project I'm doing, I see an evolution.

Simply put, the practice of writing can improve as you use your gift. Sadly, that leaves me more critical of things I've written. I start to think of a better way to say what was said.

So, to give myself a small break, I switched from the book project to a side short story-meant for a magazine project. Last night I finished it, and thought it was absolutely great.

Then the doubts flooded. "Yeah, but you have no agent yet. It's a bit long for a short story. They get thousands of submissions... blah blah blah." And I went from momentary "I want to show the world" elation, to having to douse those temptations to put a torch to it all, and forget about writing.

Go for it

I came to an interesting point in my story, one that I wasn't expecting. I wrote a little piece of dialogue and I realized that this one sentence can send the character into a whole different direction. It wasn't what I had in mind for the character but I stepped back and realized that it kind of excited me to think the character could go in that direction.

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I've always thought it better for the writer to follow the character, rather than for the character to follow the writer. Go for it. If it doesn't work, you can always change it later.

JR, a man after my own heart!

I'm with you. I love to stay flexible.

Everyone works differently, and what works for some wouldn't work for me, and what works for me wouldn't work for others.

Who hasn't had a plot line that suddenly dragged. You thought it through. It sounded good in theory. But for various reasons, it simply dies as soon as pen hits the paper. Do you chuck the story? Nah. Sometimes you need to switch directions in mid stream in order to keep things fresh.

You may have a killer outline. And you may have the protagonist on an unyielding trek from point A to point B. But there's a lot of leeway between those two points, especially for the secondary characters.

For instance. I bring a woman to a castle because she needs something from the Lord of the Land. She has a need, but she also has a secret. I like to play around with that. Is the lord aware of the secret? Is he using her because he can exploit that?

Well, I can use either, but I like misdirection, and he could be pretending to be helpful, and really be a dark schemer. Or he could simply be complex to the point where you don't know until a critical moment which way he'll go.

All my life I've had outer critics telling me what I can't do because I'm not smart enough, was born to the wrong race, lack the education to do, and "No one wants to hear what a halfbreed has to say," and I just blithely ignore them and do whatever I please.

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:eek Wow! I wonder what they'd say to me? I'm a mutt!:lol

But in honsety...I applaud you for not letting them get to you!

For the doubts, Ann Lamott has a chapter called "Shitty First Drafts" in her landmark book, Bird by Bird. And The Courage to Write, by Ralph Keyes, is also excellent in showing how all writers have faced crippling doubts and what they did to overcome them.

And for following that sentence, get on it. That bit of excitement you felt is your clue - it's promising something unique and interesting - exactly what you and your readers want to find.

Why I encourage really, really awful first drafts is because this is how every single real writer I know writes. Perfectionism makes it impossible for us to get anything down. As soon as you can break through that need, and just let yourself write whatever comes out, knowing that no one’s reading over your shoulder, knowing you can go through and start to shape, cut stuff out, save it for other projects, then you’re home free.
- Ann Lamott

If, while writing, the story doesn't occasionally surprise you as much as it should the reader - you're on the fast track to snoozeville.

If you think you can acheive perfection in a single draft - all aboard for suck-town!

If you can't see a back-handed compliment for what it is - secure the overhead compartment and fasten-in for a flight over the Agonies.

Wrong answer, I think. God must love me, I'm good for laugh. Went off on a tangent that had nothing to do with the discussion at hand, but it was so good, I had to finish. Then I posted it and thought, what the hay? Geez...sometimes it's tough being a writer.

For what it's worth, I always let my characters take the tangent, just to see where it leads.

Mari