How to Silence the Inner Editor by Rochelle Melander
About a year ago, we adopted a senior dog named Muffin Man. This dog seems to love two things—cuddling and walking. Because of this passion, Muffin suffers from separation anxiety whenever we leave. If any one of us puts on shoes, grabs a jacket, or touches our keys—Muffin dashes to our side and barks like crazy.
The other day, Muffin was so close to my feet, I nearly stepped on the little guy. And then I had an epiphany: when Muffin yaps and chases after me, he reminds me of the voice in my head that barks nasty thoughts when I am trying to write. That voice has several different tactics for sabotaging my writing but the effect is the same—I get blocked.
For most writers, the voice of the inner editor can be both vicious and damaging, especially when it represents people we have known who have diminished us or our work. Instead of just hearing the nasty barking of our own inner editor, we hear a chorus of negative, destructive voices. When the chorus starts barking, it’s hard not to get discouraged.
Here are five different strategies your inner editor will use to gut your creativity and a tool to deal with each one:
Attack Strategy 1: The Self-Doubt Bark. Self-doubt attacks novices and seasoned writers alike. Novelist Gail Godwin once said, “I work continuously within the shadow of failure. For every novel that makes it to my publisher's desk, there are at least five or six that died on the way.” The inner editor takes advantage of any moment of self-doubt, saying things like: You don’t have any talent. Give up now. You’re too old to be a writer. You don’t have the right education. You’ll never be able to quit your day job.
Tool 1: Trust your vocation. Yeah, it sounds corny but it’s true: at the very center of your being, you know you are a writer. This is your vocation. You know that you need to write just like you need to eat, sleep, and breathe. Affirm this vocation in any way that is helpful to you. Wear a shirt that says, “Writer.” Get yourself a desk plaque that affirms your calling as, “Head writer.” Add a tag line to your email signature, announcing to the world that you are an author.
Attack Strategy 2: The ‘What if?’ Bark. The imagination that makes you a brilliant writer also makes your inner editor an excellent worrier. Before you can get down a few words on paper, your inner editor bombards you with scary scenarios: What if your writing group hates this? What if you are writing this whole thing the wrong way—wrong voice, poor dialogue, badly developed characters? What if the computer crashes?
Tool 2: Give your imagination a job! Sometimes that inner editor just needs to be told what to do. In the case of the ‘What if?” bark, tell the inner editor that you are working on a story and could use it’s brilliance to create schemes, develop characters, and imagine new plot points.
Attack Strategy 3: The English Teacher Bark. The part of you that wanted to please your 9th grade English teacher can turn on you in a nanosecond. Yes, you used to know how to diagram sentences, why active verbs sound better than passive verbs, and how not to split the infinitive. But you are writing a rough draft and besides, the rules have changed. As you write a steamy love scene, a little voice in your head throws cold water on your passion by saying: Are you sure you don’t need an Oxford comma? Do you mean to use the plural “their” for a singular subject? How are you ever going to fix this?
Tool 3: Lower your expectations. The poet William Stafford often told his students, “Lower your standards and keep going. When it gets hard, don't stop - it is hard because you are doing something original.” As writers, we carry around a vision of our perfect book. As we sketch out a first draft, the words on the paper do not always match the vision in our heads. We need to lower our expectations and keep writing, knowing that we can fix everything when we edit!
Attack Strategy #4: The “Monkey Mind” Bark. Despite your dedication to writing, part of you believes that there is something more fun or absolutely earth shattering important going on somewhere else. You’ve turned off email, Facebook, Twitter, and your phone—but your monkey mind has gotten loose and is saying: I wonder if my friends are planning on going out tonight? Hmm, did that editor email me back? I wonder how much plane tickets are to Cancun?
Tool 4: Close the door. In his book On Writing Stephen King wrote, “Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.” For years, I have heard writers talk about how they do not share their work-in-progress with others because it burns up precious writing energy. The time we spend hanging out on Facebook and Twitter, answering emails, and socializing also burns precious writing energy. Close the door when you write. Don’t worry—you can open it again when you’ve put in your words for the day. And, you can invite your friends and colleagues to read it when you are ready for editors!
Attack Strategy #5: The Duty Bark. This is the voice in your head that is convinced that your family, circle of friends, neighborhood, school, state, and probably the nation will fall apart if you take time to write. So as you plant your butt in the chair, the voice nags you: Don’t forget to water the plants. Remember, the kids need new shoes. Oops, have you gathered your tax receipts?
Tool #5: Schedule the Rest. The part of our brain that wants us to check email, scrub the toilet, contact an editor, and clean up our grammar sometimes just needs to know it has been heard. Put these tasks on a to-do list or a calendar so that you can focus on writing.
Silencing the inner editor can sometimes feel like a Herculean task. As soon as we address one of its worries, it lobs another one at us. Soon we feel like we are playing tennis with a six-handed monster. If none of the above tools work, it may be time to give your inner editor a time out. Imagine setting the inner editor on a chair in the corner and telling it to take a break. Remind the beast that it won’t have anything to edit unless you get time to write. Then get back to your work and keep writing!
Your turn: What tools do you use to silence the inner editor and keep writing?
Author Bio Rochelle Melander is a certified professional coach and the author of 10 books, including a new book to help fiction and nonfiction writers write fast: Write-A-Thon: Write Your Book in 26 Days (And Live to Tell About It) (October 2011). Melander teaches professionals how to get published, establish credibility, and navigate the new world of social media. In 2006, Rochelle founded Dream Keepers Writing Group, a program that teaches writing to at-risk tweens and teens. Visit her online at www.writenowcoach.com.
