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Positive Writer

Monthly Archives

July 2020

3 Ways Your Inner Critic Can Make You a Better Writer

3 Ways Your Inner Critic Can Make You a Better Writer

written by Frank McKinley

You know your Inner Critic.

It’s the voice inside that tells you you aren’t good enough, your writing sucks lemons, and that you’re crazy for even thinking anyone wants to read a word of anything you have to say.

It’s the voice that trips you up when you’re so close to victory you can taste it.

It’s the nagging feeling that your dream is stupid, but you really want to go after it anyway.

I know this voice, because it tormented me for most of my childhood.

Fortunately, as a young adult, I learned that it doesn’t have to be that way.

Every Coin Has Two Sides

When you’re wavering between two equally good decisions, how do you decide what to do?

You flip a coin.

If it’s heads, you grill steak.

If it’s tails, you bake a casserole.

It’s not just about food. It’s about making a choice. When they’re both good, you can stand there forever wavering. Then you’re no better off than a leaf tossed about by the wind.

You’re not helpless. You can decide. Even if you just flip a coin.

Your voice is yours. It’s inside you. Like it or not, it’s there to stay. You can’t make it go away.

But you can teach it how to behave.

I got control over my negative voice when I traded my old assumptions for better ones.

My old assumptions were a lot like anyone who struggles with self-doubt, fear, and insecurity.

● You’re not good enough.
● You don’t matter.
● Nobody cares about you, and they never will.

Did you notice something about those statements?

They’re framed as absolutes.

Here’s what I mean. I didn’t give conditions to those statements. I didn’t say, “If you’re an artist, you probably won’t fit in at an accounting convention.” That’s specific and pretty obvious. And it’s only absolute in that circumstance. When you say, “I’m not good enough” you imply that this is true everywhere, all the time.

It’s not.

Find a better frame. See the world in terms of case by case situations. You don’t have to fit in everywhere. You do fit well in some places. You’re more like a puzzle piece than a square trying to fit in a world of round holes.

Celebrate that.

Now let’s get a handle on your Inner Critic. It really can be on your side – believe it or not!

In this post, we’ll look at three ways it can be your best friend instead of your worst enemy.

Your Critic is a Refiner, Not a Destroyer

Ovens heat things. It’s what they do.

All ovens aren’t alike.

Some ovens are for pottery. You put your art in and in time you bring out a masterpiece. That’s a refining oven better known as a kiln.

Funeral homes have ovens, too. They’re used to turn your loved ones into ashes.

Which kind of fire is your Inner Critic?

It depends on what you use it for.

You can use it to make you better or bitter.

You use it to make you better with a few simple steps.

First, write your draft fast. Give yourself a prompt and don’t stop to think. Don’t check for typos on the way. That’s like getting distracted by a squirrel when your daughter is talking to you. Push on. This is a racetrack, not a scenic highway. Get those words down and don’t worry about speeding tickets. There aren’t any on the freewriting highway.

Your critic can take a nap while you vomit out your draft.

This is fun. It’s like jumping into a pool. You get refreshed by getting in the water. If you stop to worry about how cold the water might be, you’ll stay on the deck forever.

Once all your words are on paper, take a break. Eat lunch. Take a nap if you’re into that. You might be tired after all that effort anyway. Give your brain time to reset.

Then come back and edit.

Jody Picault famously said you can’t edit a blank page. No worries! You’ve got a page that if filled to the borders.

Now let’s consider the point of editing, shall we?

You aren’t here to tear yourself apart. You’re editing your words. You’re looking for impact – specifically, the one you intended when you sat down to write. Did you trigger the reader’s emotions? Pretend like this is someone else’s work. It will seem more like it if your break is long enough. Ask yourself, how can I maximize my impact? How can I use these words to fulfill my purpose.

Then give it all you’ve got.

And please, don’t forget to get excited. Your refining here, not destroying.

There’s a world of difference.

Your Inner Bodyguard

When you’re carefree, pouring out your soul with no inhibitions, you might say something offensive.

Since you’re blazing through your draft, you might miss it. That’s okay. You’re not worrying about it then.

Your Inner Critic can sort it all out.

When you run into something you wrote that gives you pause, ask yourself one question.

Should I say this?

If you’d say it in public where someone could punch you, then go for it.

If you have no doubt you shouldn’t say it, don’t.

If you’re not sure, then you can probably leave it in.

I can’t guarantee no one will be offended. And who knows? Your edginess can give your message the punch it needs to reach your reader when she needs it most.

It’s also a good way to stand out.

Let your Inner Critic keep you from getting a bloody nose. Don’t let it keep you from speaking the truth or making an impact.

Your Critic Has Your Best Interests at Heart

Your Critic is part of you. It’s always going to be there. It’s not trying to sabotage you. It really wants the best for you.

It might not always know what to do, but let’s be honest – do you?

We’re all just doing the best we can.

Sometimes your Critic is worth listening to. Here’s how to tell.

● Will believing this make me better?
● Will this idea really ruin everything?
● How is this in my best interest?

When you answer these questions, you’re using your head instead of your feelings. You’re responding instead of reacting. And more often than not, you’ll find yourself daring greatly and shrinking less.

We’re all wired for survival. Our intentions are usually good (at least as we define them). So when your Critic starts ranting and raving, pause. Understand. Listen to hear what it’s really saying. Are you hurting? Is something wrong? What can we do to make this wrong thing right?

You’ll do this again and again for as long as you live.

The more you do, the less you’ll have to over time.

What you’re doing when you talk back to your critic and question its assumptions is paving new mental pathways. If you’re going to be in a rut, why not be in one that serves instead of harms you?

Guide your own heart. It’s got your best interests in focus.

When you do, the best of you will come out in every word.

4 Reasons Why Finishing a Book is Hard, and How to Make It Easier

4 Reasons Why Finishing a Book is Hard, and How to Make It Easier

written by Bryan Hutchinson

You’re a serious writer. You’ve been pursuing the dream for a while. You’ve amassed several thousand words on one or more projects, read books about characterization and plot, attended writers’ conferences, and created a daily writing practice.

And yet you haven’t finished your book. Or maybe you have several you’ve started but haven’t finished. Maybe you’ve finished one but then struggled to finish anymore after that.

Writing a book is never easy, and each one presents new challenges to overcome. If you’re struggling to finish your books, you’re not alone, but if you want to separate yourself from the pack and see your writing dreams come true, you must find a way to manage the journey all the way to “the end.”

Note: This is a guest post by Colleen M. Story, she inspires writers to overcome modern-day challenges and find creative fulfillment in their work. Find free chapters of her books, “Writer Get Noticed!“and “Overwhelmed Writer Rescue,” as well as her FREE mini-course on finishing your book on her motivational site Writing and Wellness. She also welcomes connections on Twitter.

Below are four of the most common reasons why finishing a book is hard, along with action steps to take to get you closer to where you want to be.

1. A Book Is Much More than a Good Idea

We all have good ideas for books. Ask anyone who’s ever thought about writing one and you’ll hear them. Amateurs think all you need is a good idea and you’re set.

Real writers know the truth of the matter, but that doesn’t stop us from being distracted by our active imaginations. It’s probably happened to you. Halfway through your novel, you started to struggle. You knew something was wrong but you didn’t know how to fix it.

As you floundered around, your brain started coming up with new ideas for new stories. Because you’re a creative person, you couldn’t help but feel seduced by these new ideas. They sounded fresher, more intriguing, and more exciting than the one you were working on.

Surely it would be better, you thought, to set your current work aside and pursue one of those superior ideas?

Unfortunately, it’s all a hoax. No matter how great your idea, it will rarely be easy to write a book-length manuscript. Instead, you’ll go off on that new idea and end up stuck all over again.

Action Step: When new ideas occur to you, write them down and store them somewhere in a box or a file on your computer. Then go back to your project and continue working until it is finished. Do not let another idea call you away from the one you’re already working on until that one is complete.

2. Finishing a Book is Totally Up to You

For most everything else we do, someone is around to hold us accountable. At work, you must answer to your manager and/or boss. At home, your family has certain expectations of you. Even the organizations for which you volunteer expect you to follow through.

When writing a book, however, there is no one to check up on you. There is no performance review and no one to see about your progress. That can be freeing, but it can also make it far too easy to shirk your duty to the creative work.

Don’t feel like writing? No one will notice if you take the day off. Feeling frustrated with your story? You can set it aside and no one will complain. Tired of the constant grind of writing every day? You can stop it all now without fear of any serious consequences.

At the end of the day, it’s far easier to quit than it is to continue, and a lot of people take the easy way out.

Action Step: Find out what’s motivating you to do this, and keep it fresh in your mind. Why do you want to write this book? Answer that question and post your answer somewhere you can see it regularly.

Then motivate yourself to keep going in ways that work for you. Track your progress. Ask other people to hold you accountable to your goals. Join a writer’s group. Set up rewards for each milestone you reach. Know yourself well enough to know what you need to do to drag yourself across the finish line.

3. Finishing a Book is Hard

When you read a good book by a master author, it looks easy. The story flows from beginning to end. The characters come to life on the page. The settings are so real you feel like you’re there.

Of course, you can do the same thing, you think.

And then you get to the dreaded middle of the book, and everything you thought you knew goes out the window. Your plot feels unhinged. Your characters are acting strange. The pacing is slow. Now what?

You start and stop again. You consult books on characterization and plot. You jump to the end, write that, then go back, but you can’t bridge the gap. You set one draft aside and start over with another, but you get stuck again.

Writing can be bliss at times, but at other times, it can be downright torturous. It’s like being in a maze and not being able to find your way out. Worse—it’s like being in a maze and not being able to find the most exciting, heart-pounding, emotionally moving way out, and only that one will do.

It’s hard. You spend months banging your head against a wall. You turn here and there for help, all to no avail. You feel like a failure. The beautiful novel you had so many hopes for is falling flat on its face.

Is it any wonder so many writers quit?

Action Step: Don’t quit. No matter what, don’t quit. Try again. And again. One-hundred times if you need to. Ask for help. Hire a writing mentor. Take an online course. Read another book. Outline your book and take a bird’s eye view of the plot. Sit down and have a talk with your characters, one by one, and record what you discover. Keep going. Don’t quit. If you hang in there, the answer will come.

I know. It took me five years to figure out my last novel. When I finally did, I felt like I’d traveled the Sahara and finally arrived at an oasis. It was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in my life. The harder your struggle, the sweeter the reward. Real writers don’t quit.

4. Finishing Your Book Matters to No One as Much as it Matters to You

Wouldn’t it be nice if, when you’re struggling, you had someone to tell you it was all worthwhile? If you were like one of those authors in the movies with an agent waiting breathlessly for your next story? If you had thousands of readers clamoring for your next work to hit the shelves?

For a very few writers, this is the case. For most of us, the world doesn’t notice if we publish another book or not. Most people don’t care.

Sure, our friends and family might wonder. But at the end of the day, life goes on. The mail still shows up every day (or almost every day). The planes still fly. The banks still operate. People still go back and forth to the grocery store. Book or no book, it doesn’t matter.

We realize this reality somewhere along the way. We know it, deep inside. The world will survive just fine without this story. And that makes it difficult to keep going when the going gets tough because in the end, who cares?

Action Step: Ask yourself: Does this book matter to me? If your answer is “yes,” honor yourself enough to know that you must finish it. For most of us, writing is a calling. It’s something we’re compelled to do. If you turn your back on it, you’ll be turning your back on yourself. Your potential. Your growth as a person.

You must honor yourself and your creativity enough to go where it leads you.

Writing has many rewards beyond those that come from the outside world. Remind yourself of what finishing means to you, and then get back to work.

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