Kill Your Inner Critic

cartoon by Doug Savage, of Savage Chickens fame

          Everyone has one. Everybody has an inner critic. Sometimes they rear their ugly head when we look in the mirror and spy the two honkin' huge zits that sprung up on our face. (What kind of cruel god would give me hot flashes AND zits at the same time?)

          Sometimes they tromp on in when we're writing. And instead of saying, "Yikes! You are one hot mess,' they say, "That story sucks."

          Most writers have their own ideas and strategies when it comes to rough drafts. Many just hunker down and get the story/article/novel down on paper. Even if you think some of your word choices could be improved upon. Even if you know there are huge holes in the piece. Just get it down, and worry about fixing it up after the first draft is done.

         Some even conjure up an image of their inner critic. Mine is a middle-aged lady. She never wears anything except a faded, thread-bare housecoat. On her feet--dingy slippers. She smokes, and the ash of her cigarette is so long, it's always on the verge of dropping off onto the floor. And she wears glasses--pink-tinged plastic frames. Cat-eye glasses.

         When I have to explain my piece to Cat-Eye Lady, when I have to rationalize my choices to her, my writing becomes stronger. I either become more convinced, or my explanation results in me heading down a different trail with my tale.

         So, how do you handle your inner critic? Do you kill them off (I'm overly fond of "death by wood chipper") or  do you embrace them?

Butt in Chair

            Doug Savage, who draws (on post-its) wonderful cartoons (mostly about chickens) has offered up some Olympic events for the lazy. If you're not a follower, you can find him here.

           However, if you're a writer, when your butt is in a chair, it's not necessarily a bad thing. It might mean you're writing.

          What tricks do you have up your sleeve (or in your waistband) that keep you in your chair?  Do you have a special chair that is hooked up to a cattle prod really adds to the writing experience?

           Inquiring minds want to know...

          

Why Write?

 a Savage Chickens cartoon by Doug Savage

      Doug Savage, over at Savage Chickens, almost always makes me laugh. He draws wonderful cartoons, usually featuring chickens, and he does it all on post-it notes. Amazing!

       And while I chuckled, I wondered...Why indeed? Why do we write? It rarely pays--or doesn't pay much--and it can be incredibly frustrating and time-consuming. So why do we continue sitting down to a blank page day after day?

       Of course, if you're Pearl, you write because you have 1.8 million followers (and every day, 217 more add themselves to the list). She manages to conjure incredibly hilarious urban tales about riding the bus and her cubicle mates and her cats. If she didn't post, a disgruntled mob would rise up and wreak havoc.

          If you're Fireblossom or Mama Zen, who write mind-blowing, teeth-gnashing poetry (you gnash your teeth because you didn't write it), you write because...well, I guess they write because they must. Their words and their thoughts must be like a geyser that has to find a way to vent. (And if you're Marcia Gaye, another poet friend of mine, you write because you're so good at it and you win local and state poetry contests. (Has the madness gone beyond Missouri, Marcia? Let me know...)

      If you're Val, you write because the're a geyser inside of you, too, but it's a geyser of snarkiness. I think, if Val did not write, one of her kids or her bumbling husband or  one of the goats or chickens would...well, I think something unexpectedly horrific would happen to them. Plus, she likes to flaunt her knowledge of Seinfeld (she and I often have duels, but she is always the victor), along with every other television show, movie and song that's ever been written.

      If you're Donna Volkenannt, you write because you have to keep your pen limber for the next international Erma Bombeck humor contest. (She was the most recent winner.) Or the next anthology to come out. When a collection comes out, you'll invariably find a story by Donna.

     If you're Linda O'Connell, a fellow WWWP, you write because your keyboard's on fire. Linda has a writing goal, and she's burning to achieve it. (Ask her what the goal is. She might tell you.)

    And if you're one of the other WWWPs (Wild Women Wielding Pens)--Lynn Obermoeller, T'Mara Goodsell, or Beth M. Wood--you write because you're prodded and encouraged and cajoled and begged to write. The five of us support each other and keep each other on the writing path...

      Doug Savage, on his little biographical page, spoke about being an artist. He said, "Creativity is a bit like a stubborn weed that won’t die: the roots run deep enough that it will keep growing back under the right conditions."

        What simile would you use to describe the writing process or creativity? Or, what are the "roots" of your writing like? 



That Little Dickens!

         If you haven't found him yet, check out Doug Savage's daily post, where he plays "Chicken" every day.

        Obviously, Dickens never participated in NaNoWriMo. If he had, it would have been Tale of Forty-Two Cities. There would have been no talk of it being too  long.

        Sadly, I am still way behind but have not given up (yet). According to my stats, I have to write 14,638 words every day if I want to finish on time. Otherwise, I will finish on November 3, 2525. 

        Keep thinking good thoughts for me. And here's a message for those word hogs out there (and Lynn,you know who you are!): Loan me some words. Scratch that. Don't loan them to me, give them to me.  

        Please. 

Helping the Environment

        Always eager to help out our planet, I constantly search for ways to make Earth a better place.

      Endangered species are at the top of my list. Luckily, I caught this news flash about a creature that is on the edge of extinction. Perhaps if more humans embraced it, this animal might make a resounding come-back.

               Check out many more news tidbits of Doug Savages at Savage Chickens.

              And do what you can to bring this bear back from the brink of extinction.

              Kahlua. It's not just for breakfast anymore...

First Draft: Savage-Style

"First Draft" by Doug Savage

         I think Doug Savage is baiting me. He generously allows bloggers to use his comics, but just one a month. At the end of June he posted two cartoons which I connected to as a writer. I shared one before the month ended, saved the other one, and now a new month is here. (If you have not met his fowl friends, go to his blog. You won't regret it!)

         Savage entitled this post-it cartoon "First Draft." Sometimes it's obvious to everyone but the writer what needs to be discarded.  Being married to the bear might not be wise. If your writing circle says, "Get rid of the bear!"  and they're all saying it, chances are the bear should go.

         What stories do you have about sharing your work with others? Were you ever given bad advice? What specific suggestions are you working on to improve your writing in general?  

        And don't forget...watch out for that bear!

Go!

         I love Doug Savage's blog posts. The cartoons are always quirky, they're drawn on post-its (amazing in itself!) and often, they're responsible for me beginning my day with a chuckle. (He posts them early in the morning, at "the crack of chicken," so along with C. Hope Clark's middle-of-the-night meanderings, they're the first new posts to greet me when I wake up.)

      Today's cartoon is marvelous advice for writers. (It's a rare one. Most of his cartoons are about chickens.)

       Go. Go for the submission. Go out of your comfort zone and try a different genre. Go to a writing group. Go to the post office and send off your story. Go up to a fellow writer and ask for advice. Go to a workshop. Just go.

     Because if you stay, you're a weanie.