The Inner Critic is a Writer’s Worst Nightmare
Do successful writers just pump out brilliant prose without fighting an inner critic? Don’t they suffer write-mares like the rest of us? Without questioning themselves or their talents? While wondering if it’s worth their time because it’s all the same stuff, and no one is going to read it anyway when better stuff is out there?
Believe Your Way is the Write Way
First, no, writing does not come easy to even the most skilled and craftiest writers. And second, not everyone is writing the same stuff; it may be the same topic, it may even be the same perspective.
But does everyone get into their vehicle the same way?
Some step into the garage, slide into the driver’s seat, open the garage door, and back out. Others walk down the sidewalk to the parking lot and carport where they open the back door and plunk their laptop bag and lunch box in the back seat before sliding into the front seat.
And others…
(You get my point. The same rules of life apply to writing. Your way is your way.)
Take the Time
I don’t pretend to be the most skilled writer, but I’m a skilled reader and a skilled editor, and the great writing I’ve seen didn’t just come to be via train of thought alone. It took time and (often) research to mold and massage those words into great thoughts and expressions.
And it’s tough to stay on track when the voices in our heads insist we’re not good enough. In her book “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life,” Anne Lamott shares that these voices are “drunken monkeys. They are the voices of anxiety, judgment, doom, guilt. Also, severe hypochondria” (p.6 Second Anchor Books Edition, September 2019).
We all hear them, we hate them, but we hear them. We either succumb or we survive.
Quiet the Inner Critic
So, Step One is to quiet the inner critic (IC). Step Two is to quiet the IC–again. Because the IC will return. Time and again. Just quell with your quill, if you will. (Okay, that is kind of cringe, but I’m owning it.)
Recognize the IC when you hear them. Stand up for yourself. Remember your penchant for phrases is unparalleled by anyone else.
And, honestly, we get to be the ones who establish that we are amazing writers. WE get to decide whether anyone will read what we’re writing. Like, who cares really? Even if no one reads this post, I’m receiving such a sense of wellbeing from writing it. And isn’t that why we write really? Like truly? There is power when what we do is out of joy.
