To write a novel is to spend a long time living inside your own head. It is, to a certain extent, to blur the lines between the real and the imagined, and it is certainly to spend a lot more time than many would spend listening closely to your inner monologue. You know that some people don’t even have an inner monologue? They just… do things. Know things. They don’t have a voice in their head that talks them through life, commenting on their decisions and actions and offering a constant commentary on the nature of the world.
But I bet you do.
And in many ways, this is is so good. It’s why you love stories, and it surely contributes to a person’s ability to fill a page with words at all. At its best, I feel that the act of writing is merely one of transcription - the voice in my head talks and I write down the words and edit them later. I couldn’t write without it.
BUT. Sometimes (often) this inner voice is not your friend. It will turn on you and hiss things like THIS IS RUBBISH and YOU ARE STUPID and NO ONE WILL WANT TO READ THIS SILLY BULLSHIT and WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING??? THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING STOP IT STOP IT RIGHT NOW.
This is the voice I like to think of as the inner critic. It is the same impulse that stops you from taking other risks - the same voice in your head that, rightly or wrongly, shrieks GET AWAY FROM THAT CLIFF and DON’T TRUST THAT PERSON. They are a primal part of you, protecting you from harm. That harm could be eating a poisonous berry or it could be badly screwing up a social situation - to an ancient human these are equally bad scenarios, because being ostracised from your tribe means death as surely as eating hemlock or whatever. The voice doesn’t want you to embarrass yourself. It doesn’t know that in fact, if people do not like your book they will simply stop reading it rather than campaign for you to be shunned from society. It does not understand that this is a first draft and that you won’t actually show it to anyone. It doesn’t realise that, in fact, there is no moral imperative to create good art at all, that we are all just mammals here, trying to wring a bit of joy and connection from this, our one precious life. It doesn’t know. It just knows that if something’s not perfect first time, it is WRONG and BAD and it must PROTECT YOU from putting anything that’s not perfect out into the world.
Now. It can feel like a huge pain in the arse (and it IS) to have thoughts like this, but I would argue that you absolutely need this voice later on in the editing process. This is the voice you need when you’re hunting out cliches or looking for a more interesting adjective down the editing line. We don’t want to banish the voice completely. But we do want the voice to SHUT UP PLEASE for a while so that we can get a first draft down for it to help us to edit later. So here are some tips for taming that voice.
Give yourself permission to suck
First up, please know that you have unconditional permission to write bad prose. In a very early draft, this is necessary. Most people simply cannot write high quality prose quickly enough to keep up the momentum required for a full first draft. For me, certainly, it isn’t possible. So the first draft MUST suck. Secondly - it does not make you a bad person to write writing that is full of cliches or unevenly paced or that has unconvincing character. WHO CARES REALLY? In all the horror of the world I would be proud if the worst thing I ever did was write a really cringey sex scene.It’s not NO it’s NOT NOW
You need this voice later. So we are only silencing it for the first draft - the third draft will be it’s time to absolutely shine. So when the voice pipes up during your first drafting, firmly tell it NOT NOW. But know that there will be a time to listen - it’s just not now. I feel this makes it a lot easier, somehow, to have it listen. It’s not an outright dismissal, it’s just a pause.Don’t look back
Do not mix up the processes of drafting and editing. The voice will be confused as to whether it is needed or not. Write the whole first draft without doing any editing - ideally, without doing any reading at all - and deal with the editing when it’s done. You would not believe the amount of unfinished novels I have on my hard drive, which are just 20,000 overly polished words, but then I hit a bump, lost confidence and just stopped forever. Don’t be me! Finish it, even if it’s rubbish! It WILL be rubbish! That’s okay!Phrase it like you would to a friend
The most important aspect, I would argue, of taming this inner critical voice is to change the way the voice speaks to you, that is, the way you speak to yourself. And what we are aiming for from this voice is the tone you would take with a close friend. The criticism is welcome! But make it specific, actionable and kind. If a friend showed you a piece of writing and invited your honest feedback, you know that you would never flatly tell them it was awful. You would also not lie. You would be specific in your feedback - you might say that the pacing was a little uneven, or that you’d like more description of the setting, or that there was a conversation you found a little confusing. Try to imagine, when you read your own work, that you are reading the work of a friend. You’re not offering a value judgement, not really - you’re looking to point out what works and what doesn’t, kindly and respectfully.Swap critics with a peer
It can REALLY help in the development of your critical voice to actually literally do this to someone else’s work. You don’t even have to pretend, if you’re doing this - it really is a friend you’re talking to! Not only can these kinds of relationships offer valuable insights and perspectives on your work, they can get you used to both talking and being talked to about creativity in a measured and kind way. In time, you will adopt the vocabulary you use for your peer’s work for yours as well.
But finally - if this is you, solidarity. I really do know what this is like, and it’s hard, and it’s very very human. I put this as a free newsletter because I really feel that it’s a lack of confidence that gets in new writers ways more than anything else - more than time, more than issues with craft. And it’s annoying! All the stories that haven’t been told because of this - I hate it. Your story is important! Don’t let a voice in your head get in your way.
If you have any specific questions please do pop them below. And if you have any requests for newsletters, let me know there as well!
Lucy x