The inner editor is the writer’s best friend.
And worst enemy.
When your inner editor is working for you it can help you craft tight, accurate writing. When it turns on you, it can paralyze you and dry up that flow of inspiration. Some writers call this analysis-paralysis.
This two-face can twist around at any time and during any point of the project.
Before you start a writing project, your inner editor may laugh at your chosen subject and deride its chances of success. As you write, it may turn the word “mad”… to the word, “angry”… and back to “mad” again… and then back to “angry”… until you finally give up.
You may dwell on a punctuation dilemma: is it a semi-colon, or a comma?
Here’s how you can quiet this voice and make friends with your inner editor again.
Ignore it
It may take some willpower, but tell that critical inner voice to shut up. Even if it’s for only a little while.
Test it
If you begin to doubt whether a writing project has any chance of success, bring in some trusted friends and pitch them the idea. Input from a few editors sometimes drowns out that persistent inner voice of dissent.
Laugh at it
Kid yourself about the constant criticisms. And then push on with a word-count goal.
Laugh with it.
Make a game out of your self-criticism. Can you write an entire page without going back and re-working your writing? Can you write a hundred words without editing? Can you complete that novel despite those constant barrage of comments that it’s no good?
Work with it
Set aside a certain time or word count. After that point, let your editor go through the text you just wrote and go wild with the editor’s pen.
The balance between editing and writing is tenuous, but it’s a balance that can be managed.