Silencing Your Inner Critic
Greetings and salutations Scribblers!
Today we’re focusing on the critic lurking inside all of us that wants us to hate what we write and is constantly whispering that we’re not good enough or that no one will ever want to read what we write. We all have an inner critic and as writers, we need to learn how to silence it so our creative ideas can flow from our brains onto the page. So, today, I thought we’d look at how that inner critic functions, how it interferes with our creative process, and a few ways you can fight back.
Where does our inner critic come from? To fully answer this question, you’re going to need to book some therapy sessions and do a deep dive into who you are, how you were raised, and how society and culture have shaped you into the person you are. I don’t have that expertise, but we can look at the broad structures. The way our minds process information and how we react are part genetics and part how we were raised and what our experiences have been.
Our inner critic is a product of us taking in information and data on how well or how poorly things have worked out for us in the past, which means, our inner critic isn’t trying to bring us down, it’s trying to protect us. It’s offering commentary based on past experience or what it’s seen happen to other people in similar situations to try and protect us from failure. Our inner critic is a bit like Nemo’s dad, Marlin in Finding Nemo. He loves Nemo and wants to protect him, but he’s being over protective and this stops Nemo from living his life and realizing his potential.
In a world where everyone’s opinion is front and center on the internet, our inner critic is often on high alert. There are posts about how people hate specific tropes, or think anyone who does XYZ in their stories isn’t a real writer. Not to mention reviews on sites like Goodreads that can absolutely eviscerate a book or author. Our brain takes all this in and starts making decisions to try and prevent us from experiencing that criticism in regards to our work.
Again, it’s really just trying to protect us!
Our inner critic can be loud and nagging, it can be quiet and absolutely gut you with its vitriol and everything in between. When you’re staring at a blank page, it tells you all the things you shouldn’t write instead of the things you should. Or maybe it starts to remind you of the 150 rejections you got from agents on your last manuscript, or maybe it’s the one review you got on your last story that called you a writing hack. It might even try convincing you that no matter what, you’ll never be as good as that big name best selling author, so why should you even bother trying?
No matter what, all of that bubbles up to the surface when we write. It stops us from tapping into the entirety of our creativity. It stops us from pushing ourselves to experiment and try new things. It stops us from submitting to that agent or publisher or workshop because it’s too focused on how we might not be enough to make it when it should be focused on how amazing you are and all the untapped potential residing inside of you.
This can turn into us avoiding writing, deciding that deep cleaning our kitchen or reorganizing every closet in the house is a better choice to make than writing. Because it’s safer, it doesn’t open us up to criticism of our art and our imaginations. With just a few simple thoughts, our inner critic can completely shut down our creative process. And the more our inner critic speaks up and we don’t challenge it, the easier it becomes to believe these inaccuracies. Remember, your inner critic is Marlin and it thinks it’s protecting you, but really it’s stifling your creativity and stopping you from growing and achieving.
So, how do we push back and take control of our inner critic? One way that might work for you is to give it a name and externalize it. I’ve been comparing our inner critic to Marlin in this video, so what if you started imagining Marlin is the one telling you not to write? A small orange clown fish is now giving you advice. Are you still listening to him? I’m not because now I’m imagining a clown fish sitting on my shoulder like the little angel/devil trope and I’m confused as to why I’m allowing a fish to give me writing advice. This tactic can break the cycle because it pulls you out of that negativity spiral and highlights the absurdity of listening to such bad advice.
Another way to push back is to come up with a few responses and affirmations to say to yourself when that inner critic rears its head. Daily affirmations might sound silly, but they’re powerful and if you commit to them, you’re going to see huge results. You might start by adding some post it notes on your writing desk that you can look at and read whenever your inner critic starts yapping. Speaking them out loud is even more powerful, because you get to be louder than your inner critic. Get your affirmations in order and say them. A lot. This isn’t an instant fix, but it over the course of a few weeks and then months, you’re probably going to see a big difference.
When I started doing affirmations, it took me almost a year to see measurable progress, I had some very, very loud inner critics and not just in my writing life. But I’ve mostly conquered them and when they do try to sneak back in, my brain is quick to fire back and silence them.
My third tip is to create something that reminds you of all the wins you’ve had as a writer–celebrate all of them. This might be corkboard where you pin up all your successes or maybe you create a scrapbook or diary filled with all the great things. This is my writing scrapbook that I started when I was really going through it and I put in everything from lines I’d written that I loved to printed out emails of agent requests to comments and encouragement from my writing community. When I was doubting myself, I’d pull this out and remember that I totally had this under control and writing was worth focusing on.
And finally, build up your writing community. Developing your community is probably the best thing you can do for your career. It can take a bit, but once you have that solid support, you can share what you’re inner critic is whispering and you better believe your writing community is going to remind you of all the reasons why that critic is wrong. Being able to voice your frustrations and doubts is such a valuable thing. Bottling them up and ignoring them won’t solve the issue, but acknowledging them and having people to help remind you of how awesome you are is powerful.
Remember, this is your voice, this is you talking to yourself. And while it can be difficult, you’ve got to find a way to change the narrative and yeet that negativity into the sun so you can embrace all the awesome things you’re capable of. Feeling emotions is part of being human and the negative emotions need acknowledgement as much as the positive ones–just don’t let yourself wallow in them. Tell Marlin to stop doubting you, repeat your affirmations, and embrace your community!
As always, your mileage may vary! Leave us a note in the comments and tell us how you silence your inner critic!
