Battling the inner critic

Talisker.

caw

I know what you mean, as I suspect do most writers who are starting out. I HIGHLY recommend reading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. He would call this "resistance". He's got an excerpt on his website I believe. After reading the blurb, I went out bought the book, read it in one sitting, and three weeks later I finished the second half of my manuscript (okay it was closer to 40%, but you get the idea), the one I had been toiling over for a year and a half.

Good luck to you.

Wesley Kang said:

... I HIGHLY recommend reading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. ...

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I recommend this book, too. If you can find it (library, maybe?) I'd also recommend "Embracing your Inner Critic" by Hal & Sidra Stone. It's a little new-agey but I suspect it could help. In general, when dealing with a particularly inhibiting critic, the best tactic it to find ways to fly under it's radar. Tell it you're writing a paragraph, rather than that you are writing a story. Then stop when you finish the paragraph. Continue the next day by doing the same. Stuff like that, while it takes a while to add up to your subconcious being truly free, is, I believe the best way to deal with a really limiting critic.

blacbird said:

Talisker.

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I highly recommend avoiding getting into the habit of using intoxicants to evade your critic. Srsly.

Well, back in November I participated in NaNoWriMo, which, if you're not familiar with it, is a program where you try to write a (minimum) 50,000 word novel in a month. If I wanted to 'win' I had to average some 2000 words/day (I started a few days late), which meant I couldn't really get too hung up on making everything perfect. Writing in that way really helped me on my next project, and I've found a happy balance between brain dumping and editing as I go.

I'm not a huge fan of word count goals myself, I prefer to write either for as much time as I have in any give day, or until I'm written out for that day, but you might try setting yourself a minimum daily word count. Having a number to shoot for may give you enough impetus to subdue the inner editor enough to make real progress.

The War of Art is on my to-read list. I've been working through all of Julia Cameron's Artist's Way books since 2008. One tactic she recommends is personifying your critic, and then mocking it, or setting it aside/making appointments at times when it's actually useful.

So far I've found just the mere threat of suggestive drawings of my inner critic puts a stop to the jabber.

I don't know about you, but usually my inner critic is not "inner" at all. More often it's what I think other people are going to say about it that gets me overly picky.

So, I try not to imagine what some nameless, faceless critic might think and focus on the actual feedback I do get. If I can't name who gave me the critical feedback, I ignore it.

Well, I have each of you beat! LOL. If I'm not intimidated and humilitated somehow by others, I end up doing it to myself. So I'm saying "Hush up!" to myself and those other critics. I recommend "The Voice of the Muse" companion, guided meditations for writers by Mark David Gerson, whose going into a movie production. www.markdavidgerson.com & www.lightlinesmedia.com.

jeffo20 said:

Well, back in November I participated in NaNoWriMo, which, if you're not familiar with it, is a program where you try to write a (minimum) 50,000 word novel in a month. If I wanted to 'win' I had to average some 2000 words/day (I started a few days late), which meant I couldn't really get too hung up on making everything perfect. Writing in that way really helped me on my next project, and I've found a happy balance between brain dumping and editing as I go.

I'm not a huge fan of word count goals myself, I prefer to write either for as much time as I have in any give day, or until I'm written out for that day, but you might try setting yourself a minimum daily word count. Having a number to shoot for may give you enough impetus to subdue the inner editor enough to make real progress.

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I've done NaNo four times now, and I can tell you that just doing something this weird once will help you enormously. It really helped me understand that you have to get it OUT before you pick it apart. It gets you in the habit of simply focusing on putting more words on the page.
I'd suggest trying to write 1000 words in perhaps 15 or 20 minutes with a loose plot. Writing something you know isn't "serious" in this way can have an effect on your regular writing, too.

When I sat down to write my book I decided I would treat it as if I was doing NaNoWriMo. (I would be awful at the official one. Video games are my other big hobby and something awesome usually comes out in November without fail.)

I just finished the rough draft of my book last night. 91,000 words in just under six weeks isn't too shabby.

I went through several years of self-sabotage and several of complete creative shut down before this. I always use to ask myself "What publisher do I want for this project?" or "Is this type of book selling?" or other such nonsense. (I was in University -- I thought I had everything figured out. ) And then I would wonder why I either froze dead when I started a new book or gave up three chapters in.

Hello, self. Meet your worst enemy: self.

My writing is now something I do because I love it. It is also something that I do because knowing that I have the strength to put butt in chair and words on paper makes me feel good about myself.

I'm a sneaky little booger, too. I reward myself for little and big milestones during a novel to make sure that I stay on target.

I've also learnt that I am much less scared if I can see some form of ending -- or more importantly the major climactic scene -- before I get going.

Its all about figuring out what works for you. What I am finding is that it's a long road where I keep finding little sign posts saying "Yes, you CAN finish a draft", or (hopefully next) "Yes, you CAN find and fix all the plot holes." (Relax! They happen to everybody. That's what revision / editing is for.)

You get the idea.

The bottom line is that you have to give yourself permission to take down the facts. You can't turn the fluff in your head into something others can read until you yank it out of your imagination -- kicking and screaming if need be -- and tack its shadow to the wall. (Or bribe it with new electronics, chocolate and fast food. Yet again, do what *you* need to. )

Good luck!

Count me as another who has this problem. Recently I visited a local thrift store and bought a cheap shirt that says "the world needs more heros". I cut off the top so it has no sleeves, and voila. A computer 'shirt'. Now my computer is all warm and cozy and I can't see what I'm writing...and therefore can't read back every sentence and tell myself how horrible it is.

Spiral said:

Count me as another who has this problem. Recently I visited a local thrift store and bought a cheap shirt that says "the world needs more heros". I cut off the top so it has no sleeves, and voila. A computer 'shirt'. Now my computer is all warm and cozy and I can't see what I'm writing...and therefore can't read back every sentence and tell myself how horrible it is.

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A computer shirt. That says "the world needs more heros".

Winner!

Confidence is evident is writing, just as it is in the flesh. If you don't write with confidence, it will show...

My inner critic is a bitch and I try to ignore her as much as possible.
On the serious side, I really have very little control when it comes to writing. My characters run the show from beginning to end and if I leave them alone too long they nag me without mercy. On the good days, when depression doesn't own my soul, I look forward to following them on their crazy adventures. They always know what's going to happen long before I do. So if the first draft is rough they really don't care as long as I am telling their story.
I also do a very thorough PCP (Primary Character Profile) before beginning and I know my characters very well when we start out. So for me, I guess it's mostly a matter of having characters that interest me enough to keep on going. Hope this helps.

My inner critic jumps up and beats me with the hopeless bat when I read someone else's perfect writing. You know the kind. That stuff you were trying to find in your own little brain only an hour ago - when you were working on your $#@? MS, and it just would NOT come.

Commit yourself to NaNoWriMo. When you have word count goals to meet, you shift your focus away from perfection.

With me, the inner critic isn't the problem. It's the outer ones that get in the way of my writing. I have two books out there right now, and even though I should know better I have been reading the reviews. Even the people who say they loved the books nit-pick at everything from my choices for names to how I ended the book. Then when I go to work on the next in the series, I find myself second guessing everything I do. I can't produce anything that way. Usually I have to force those voices out of my head, listen to loud music, and get in the mood to write for myself, not for the world.

Have you read "Bird By Bird," by Ann Lamott?

It's a great book, and she writes a chapter (or two?) on the critic. Sometimes they're the 'voices' of people you know who are criticizing you. She says to visualize that person becoming a squeaking mouse, pick it up by the tail, put them in a jar, and shut the lid so you can't hear them.

At least I think that's what she said. I wouldn't have made that up!

Anyway it wouldn't work for me; I'd be worried about the mice breathing and want to let them out and play with them.

But the general idea, i.e. that you need to find a way to shut up the critical voices of what other people will think, is important.

I'm still trying to find ways... that don't involve rodents.

doodle said:

This has always been a major problem for me. I come up with ideas for stories, I start to write them, and then I get so self-critical, I give up. I pick apart my shoddy writing, convincing myself that no-one would ever want to read anything I've written. I can't even stomach reading it myself!

I know the best strategy to tackle this problem is just to write through it, and concentrate on the quality of writing in re-writes. But are there any suggestions you would give a beginning writer on shutting down the inner critic?

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Don't feel bad, you're not alone, not by a long shot. Yesterday, I read some of Uncle Jim undiluted. It's a thread in the novels forum. I recommend that also. In the beginning, he tells us to set aside two hours a day to write and do nothing else. No distractions, maybe some music to set the tone, but you have to write or stare at the screen. I tried this last night on something I had been having trouble getting through, and surprise I got past my block. Now, I'm rolling along, when I'm not on here giving out my pretend wisdom.

Diana_Rajchel said:

The War of Art is on my to-read list. I've been working through all of Julia Cameron's Artist's Way books since 2008. One tactic she recommends is personifying your critic, and then mocking it, or setting it aside/making appointments at times when it's actually useful.

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I bought a cute, stuffed, colorful chinese dragon. His name is Philip and he is the voice of that critic. When he starts to get noisy, I pick him up and heft him across the room.

Chris P said:

I don't know about you, but usually my inner critic is not "inner" at all. More often it's what I think other people are going to say about it that gets me overly picky.

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Ahyup. Happens to me, too. So I personified him, like Diana_Rajchel comments above, stuffed him into a plushie of a chinese dragon and send him sailing over the furniture. Seems to work. Or at least makes me feel better and buys me more writing time.

Katallina said:

Hello, self. Meet your worst enemy: self.

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Heard that!


I also trick myself and break up my writing in 500 word increments. Then I ask Philip to be quiet for those 500 words (which is about 15-20 minutes of writing) at which point he can be critical all he wants while I go get a refill on my drink.

If, when I sit back down, the critic is still talking, I toss him at the wall.

As you can well imagine, he gets tossed quite a bit. But I can get about 3k words written a day with this.

Hey...whatever it takes to get the words down. More and more often I find there are whole days where I don't touch Philip at all!

WriteMinded said:

My inner critic jumps up and beats me with the hopeless bat when I read someone else's perfect writing. You know the kind. That stuff you were trying to find in your own little brain only an hour ago - when you were working on your $#@? MS, and it just would NOT come.

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This is when I clam up too; in fact, I wrote a piece today out of pure frustration titled "Fear" basically inspired by how reading something that impressed me made me afraid to write. It's a terrible feeling, like all the maturity and experience float away from me and I become a pouty little brat sitting in the corner scowling at the kids who can kick the ball so perfectly. But writing my little "fear" essay was therapeutic and I actually was able to drag myself out of the corner and into the game! If only for a page or so, but I was there! And just to make sure I knew I played, I made sure to add "I wrote this!" to the bottom of my page. True story

As a beginning writer myself I am unqualified to answer this question. Oh I've played with words since I was a wee lad, but I've only been "writing" for the last two years. You have been warned – so take my words with a grain of salt.

Self doubt is a terrible thing. It eats at me every time I open my own work and think, I could have done that better. But after striving to make it better I find myself thinking, it was better before I changed it. And that horrible circle doesn’t end.

It sounds like a dog chasing its own tail and that is precisely how it feels like as well. Dizzying and exhausting.

If you are like me and find yourself caught up in this pointless exercise then open your mouth, release your tail and look ahead. There are others here better suited to critiquing our work than we.

I’m not looking forward to them telling me my writing sucks… Now where did I put my tail?

Forget about revising, have confidence in yourself, and write on my friend!

My inner critic really comes out when I look at publishing resources--agent blogs, editor blogs, Amazon Look Inside, even our beloved AW. So I've set aside an hour to do that every day, and then I cut myself off. I could spend all day on Amazon Look Inside, comparing my WIP to similar, already-published works. And, to quote Admiral Akbar, it's a trap. Writing mode and critiquing mode are two completely distinct mental processes, and entwining them is the surest formula I know for sitting at your computer and weeping.