{"id":16407,"date":"2019-02-05T16:54:30","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T21:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lisatener.local\/?p=16407"},"modified":"2024-09-30T08:56:39","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T12:56:39","slug":"light-a-candle-for-your-inner-critic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/2019\/02\/light-a-candle-for-your-inner-critic\/","title":{"rendered":"Light a Candle for Your Inner Critic"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"inspiration\"
Photo by Milan Popovic on Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Knock, knock; it’s your inner critic paying you a visit…<\/em><\/p>\n

Yesterday, I had two phone calls from writers a bit panicked about the quality of their writing.<\/p>\n

Jo was relieved when I told her that I enjoyed reading her rough draft and that it pulled me in and I wanted more.<\/p>\n

Apparently, the previous editor she showed it to had told her something a lot less helpful.<\/p>\n

The thing is, a first draft is not a polished piece. It’s our job as editors and writers to see the potential in a piece of writing, to sense what’s not there and needs to come out.<\/p>\n

It’s not our job to tear down the writing. It’s our job to bring the beauty out.<\/p>\n

Why does it hurt so much when an editor critiques?<\/h2>\n

There’s an aspect of us, the inner critic, that believes our writing is lousy and will never amount to anything better.<\/p>\n

The more we fight the critic, the more power we give it.<\/p>\n

\"candle<\/a>
Photo by zae zhu on Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, how do we overcome that inner critic? I had a bit of a brainstorm today and I have to admit, I fell in love with my own idea. I’m calling the exercise, “Light a Candle for Your Critic”<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Light a candle for your inner critic and a candle for your inspiration or inner muse.<\/li>\n
  2. Your critic is there. Acknowledge it.<\/li>\n
  3. Notice you have at least two voices you can listen to\u2014the inspiration or the critic. You get to choose.<\/li>\n
  4. Look at the candles and stare at the one that represents your muse. Draw inspiration from it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    It turned out she didn’t have two candles. “I’ll buy them today.”<\/p>\n

    “No, don’t put it off. Use two pencils, two anythings. You can do candles tomorrow. Just use two objects to represent inner critic and muse and then write.”<\/p>\n

    It isn’t about the candles. Any object will do. By just representing and acknowledging the two forces\u2014movement forward and stuckness\u2014you can create new movement.<\/p>\n

    Critic Kung Fu and Curiosity<\/h2>\n
    \"writing\"
    Photo by Hannah Olinger on Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    I suggested she be ready for the inner critic. Let its voice wash over her, without responding.<\/p>\n

    Remain in ready position, as if in a martial art.<\/p>\n

    Like in a martial art, there’s not a right way and a wrong way to write her chapter.<\/p>\n

    In readiness position, she can move with the energy from an intuitive place. Rather than forcing a move, she can let it choose her.<\/p>\n

    “Just write with curiosity. Play with it. See what works. Try one way and see if you like it. If not, try something else.”<\/p>\n

    Here are 5 tips for writing from your heart<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Where are you in your book writing process? Have you found a way to be with your inner critic without having it blindside you? What works for you? How do you engage your writing muse<\/a>? Share your insights or questions as a comment below.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Knock, knock; it’s your inner critic paying you a visit… Yesterday, I had two phone calls from writers a bit panicked about the quality of their writing. Jo was relieved when I told her that I enjoyed reading her rough draft and that it pulled me in and I wanted more. Apparently, the previous editor…  Read more<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,27,28],"tags":[2088,2089,2087,1573],"class_list":{"0":"post-16407","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-more","8":"category-writing-challenges","9":"category-writing-coach","10":"tag-candle","11":"tag-critique","12":"tag-inner-critic","13":"tag-writing-muse","14":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16407"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278877,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16407\/revisions\/278877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}