Friday, October 30, 2020

Increase Your Writing Production - Kill the Critic

 

What if murder could increase your writing production?

 How killing Miss Purdy helped me, and what it might do for you.

 

THERE YOU ARE - SETTLED IN TO REACH THAT 50,000 WORD GOAL.

YOU HAVE 30 DAYS FROM NOVEMBER 1  

HANG ON, BEFORE YOU START, YOU NEED TO COMMIT A MURDER

After writing from age eight, finally at thirty something, I figured out one huge problem with my writing process and progress. Miss Purdy was living in my head! My Grade Eight English teacher perched on top of my frontal lobe with her glasses on the end of her nose and her right, forefinger raised.

And she was bossy. “You must get it right,” she’d say, shoving up her glasses. “Miss Reid, how many times do I have to tell you to think before you write.” The finger would snap down, indicating one of my sentences. “No, no, that isn’t good enough. Do it again.”

Of course, she might have had unreasonable expectations. (Do you think?) And not just in writing. Apparently, I should spell perfectly because my father was a minister and had two degrees. (I still haven’t figured that one out. My dad couldn’t spell.)

Have you a critic in your life that sticks to you the way greens stick to grandmas dentures? messy, obvious and of no use? Does the voice echo in your head. Did you find red-pencil marks and snippy comments in your diary entry about your boyfriend? Did they throw a paper back on a desk with a big C- on it?

We all know the result of the Miss Purdys of the world. Far too many would-be writers, good writers, stall out because the voice in their heads tell them their writing isn’t perfect. It crippled my writing for years or at least seriously delayed my writing growth. Other writers confirmed this phenomena of an annoying Miss Purdy.

Eventually, thanks to workshops, how-to-books, and fellow writers, I realized what I must do. Murder Miss Purdy. If it’s a family member you actually like, lock them in solitary confinement during your creating phase. Once they’re locked up, you’re free to collect and write story ideas, to tweak them into a cohesive whole, and then edit them.

Oh darn, that edit thing. Maybe we shouldn’t murder our Miss Purdy. She has her place. But you can swear at her, tell her get lost, or point your finger and sent her to detention. Do anything to keep her behind the sound proof glass in your head.

Your creativity will thank you. You progress will be faster.

And without the hurdle of a nosy critic, you can reach the end of your 50,000-word Draft Zer0 in those 30 days of November.