As a writer, do you find yourself writing for a while, stopping, re-reading what you’ve just written, judge it as being garbage and then start re-writing again? Does this cycle keep repeating and you end up feeling considerably more down in the dumps, and never get a story finished? If so, you’re being far too critical and hard on yourself. Leave these criticisms for editors and readers.
While you’re writing, your job is to keep your creativity flowing. Read on to learn how to suspend judgement of your writing:
Say a great big “No!”
Too much judgement about what you are writing and your ability comes from internal chatter telling you that your writing is inadequate. Observe your internal self-talk and you’ll hear the voice in your head saying that you need to start over again, or the personality of the character you are developing isn’t right for this particular story. In such situations, take charge of your self-talk and say a great big “No!” to this type of language. Refuse to believe it. Say “No!” out loud like a great lion or lioness roaring.
Say a great big “Yes!”
The opposite of self-doubt is happiness and freedom to express. After saying “No!” to judgement, flip things around, and say a great big “Yes!” to giving yourself permission to write freely and to allow your creativity to pour out of you. If you have to gesture with your hands what this type of “Yes!” is like, then do it. Say it out loud with a large smile on your face. Welcome this “Yes!” into you and continue to write. Notice how the way you feel when you write now, has changed for the better.
There’s enough judgement in this world
Remember, there’s already enough judgement in this world. With so many people being critical of each other, every second of the day, do you really need to add more by being critical of your writing? I’m guessing the answer is no.
Judging yourself doesn’t help
By being hard on yourself for not writing according to some fantasy made up ideal, does it help you? Of course it doesn’t. You just end up worrying even more. Now, if all the time you spent judging and worrying did help you to write better, then there would be logic in getting all critical. However, it rarely does. Instead of spending this time making judgements, use it to allow your imagination to take over and just write. And then read what you’ve just written. If it doesn’t make sense, then even better!
It’s your unique voice
What you write is an expression of your imagination, creativity, experiences and interests. All these contribute to making writing that comes from your individuality. It makes no sense to judge your writing, because by doing so, you’re actually putting a block on allowing yourself to come out, and to want to express yourself is normal. Remember, the world wants to hear your voice, and it can only ever come out authentically when you allow it to do so.
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