I’ve been getting very good feedback on my stories over the last several months. And it is giving my inner critic the power!
Folks are reading my stuff. They are liking my stuff. My inner critic wants to keep them liking my stuff and so is picking apart every little word choice, character name, plot twist (or bend), or story idea. I thought I could talk loud; just ask my kids. My inner critic? She is way more chatty and voluminous — I don’t think that word means what you think it means — than I could ever be.
She has grabbed my typing hands, stopped my ink pen, and with her words, has dried up mine.
It is a weird thing. As an aspiring writer, I want people looking at my work and enjoying it but for me, the attention gives my inner critic power. And that isn’t good. She had plenty of power beforehand, believe you me.
So let’s try this. You don’t look at me straight on. Use your peripheral vision. I’ll tell her that no one is watching and I can write what I want, when I want; maybe she’ll listen. At the very least maybe she’ll go on a vacation, a long vacation, and leave me alone long enough to get some more stories into circulation.
