Today's task: read through the Harmony manuscript as it stands thus far -- NO editing allowed. The Internal Editor needs to take a break and just sit quietly in the background. The story is nowhere near finished -- characters still need defining (some of them are elusive and haven't told me much about themselves), scenes still need to be written, some characters have to die (oh, you know how I love conflict - gulp!). It's just not ready for editing. But I haven't written a word since the end of November and I can honestly say that I can't remember what's happened so far.
So I started reading in earnest as my muffins were baking this morning. And that obnoxious voice piped up at the first typo. I shushed her.
At lunch I choked on my salad as I read an amusing bit. One character tried to figure out a mystery and ran off, but in the next paragraph was standing still and tying his hair back. The Editor started to say something about how ridiculous... and I told her to shut it.
Internal criticism is unproductive. It is not the same thing as thinking critically about a mystery or a challenge. Internal criticism just tears at the fabric of confidence. It's so hard to tune out the nagging, but tune it out I must.
Hey, Internal Know-it-all Editor: Shut up, already! Just let me read and write this in peace. You'll get your turn in a few weeks.
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