Writing Tip: Go Easy on Yourself

Many young writers face the same challenge every time they sit down to write: Their own mind says "I'm no good at this," and they never make it past page one.

For this final tip of 2008, I'm going to ask you to give yourself a break. Here's why it might make all the difference in the world...

Writers are hard on themselves. Even the most successful authors, those who have seen millions of copies of their books published and watched their titles soar to the top of bestseller lists, get down on themselves and wonder if they'll ever be able to finish another sentence.

Francis Ford Coppola, a famous film director and screenwriter, said: "...there's a hormone secreted into the bloodstream of most writers that makes them hate their own work while they are doing it, or immediately afterward."

Now that you know you're not alone, what's the next step? I recommend that you write several pages without reviewing or criticizing them. In fact, don't even read back over them for awhile. Simply put your head down and churn out three or four pages. When you're finished, set them aside, then come back the next day and write two more pages. Then two or three more the day after that.

You'll find that the feeling of accomplishment can override the feeling of inferiority. Suddenly, you are a writer. The key is to get well into a project before you begin to analyze your skills. Sure, you will later go back and edit and improve, but by that point you will have a good chunk of material that you wrote!  You didn't allow your mind to sabotage your effort, and you proved to yourself that you have what it takes to write.

I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised at how well you do. The key is to concentrate on doing the work and shutting off that overly-critical mind while you pile up the pages.

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