How to Deal with Your Inner Critic so You Can Keep Writing

Top ways budding writers can push through to get words on the page

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The image of the writer staring at a blinking cursor on a blank screen is synonymous with writer’s block, which is usually caused by an early visit from the self-critic. While all writers can be subject to a premature visit from the inner critic, writer’s block is especially troublesome for new writers. But the reason that experienced writers can get into a groove with their writing more quickly is that they’ve learned how to silence the inner critic and get words on the page.

It’s not a special gift that you’re born with. Thankfully, silencing your critic is a skill that you can learn with practice just like you can learn to ride a bike without training wheels or do any other type of activity that seemed scary at first. You can use these exercises to begin learning how to silence the inner critic the first time and remove the block from your writing.

Let Your Stream of Consciousness Run Wild

If you ever feel like the first words you put on the page aren’t even good enough for your grandma to praise, you’re not alone. Lots of writers feel encumbered by a terrifying sense that nothing that they write will ever make someone else feel inspired, scared, intrigued, or generally elicit any feeling that drew them to other authors’ writing in the first place. That’s why free writing is all the more important.

When you engage in stream-of-consciousness writing, one of the first things you have to learn is to put your critical brain on the back burner and just create. Set a timer and don’t begin to self-edit until the timer has run out. If you’re an absolute novice, choose a time under 10 minutes. But the more you engage in this type of writing exercise, the easier it’ll be to spend half an hour or more simply creating without worrying about whether or not it’s any good. You’ll likely reach a point when you can fill up several pages in one sitting.

Write Outside Your Chosen Genre

When you’re really passionate about something, it’s easy to become overly critical too soon. There’s also a saying in the writing profession: writing…