Two Connected Bits of Writing Advice from Ann Patchett and Sharon Darrow

As we near the end of our series of posts featuring favorite writing tips, I'm relieved none of the other TeachingAuthors has discussed the advice I'm sharing today. It's actually two bits of advice. I heard the first many years ago from one of my first writing teachers, Sharon Darrow. I'm paraphrasing her words here, but Sharon said:

When you're writing, imagine you're using a pencil that has an eraser on the end. Everything is fine as long as you focus on the writing--on keeping the pencil moving. But if you stop to erase (to edit), you'll stop the writing flow. There's no way to physically write and erase at the same time.

I recently heard Ann Patchett say something similar in an interview on the July 22, 2020 edition of the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast. (I'm a big fan of Gretchen Rubin's podcast and books. I mentioned her book The Four Tendencies in my post 3 Aids for Creativity in the Time of the Coronavirus.)

In the podcast, Rubin and her sister, Elizabeth Craft interview Patchett about her bestselling adult novel, The Dutch House (Harper). The book is the latest Happier Podcast Book Club pick and the first Patchett novel I've read. (Note: the podcast interview contains lots of spoilers, so if you're planning to read The Dutch House, do it before listening to the podcast.) Near the end of the interview, Patchett shares several pieces of writing advice. Gretchen Rubin posted a graphic on her Instagram account of the tip I want to share with you today:

As Patchett says, there are times when we need to look at our work critically. But that comes later, after we have a solid draft. We need to make some art first so we'll have something to shape later.

When I'm working on a draft, I try to hold onto the image of the pencil moving across the page and resist the urge to "erase."

Don't forgot to check out this week's Poetry Friday round-up hosted by former TeachingAuthor Laura Purdie Salas.

Posted by Carmela

Coping with Your Inner Critic

If you've been reading our recent blog posts, you've had glimpses of how we TeachingAuthors are spending our summer, from researching to reading to teaching.

This week, I'm attending the Catholic Writers Guild Convention in Schaumburg, Illinois, where
on Wednesday I gave a presentation on "Coping with Your Inner Critic." Much of my talk was based on the book Wrestling with Your Angels: A Spiritual Journey to Great Writing (Adams Media) by Janet O. Hagberg. Unfortunately, the book is out-of-print, but you can still find used copies online.

Hagberg says,

“We all have strong inner critics standing on one shoulder, reminding us of our failures, telling us to stop before we embarrass ourselves . . . .”

The critic’s fundamental goal is to destroy our confidence. But Hagberg also reassures us that:

“If on one shoulder we have the critic, on the other we have an angel . . .  providing answers to the critic.” 

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

Hagberg encourages us to get to know and befriend our critic. The critic tends to be sharp-tongued, but if we set boundaries and give the critic specific assignments, we can get it to keep quiet long enough for us to get some work done. As Hagberg says:

“The critic loves to be needed, and the grooming, editing, and polishing aspects of writing lend themselves to the critic’s skills. . . . Critics are also great at sorting out how to use feedback. . . . "

I promised the conference attendees that I'd share some additional resources on dealing with the critic in today's blog post. Here are several from our TeachingAuthors blog:

• a post I wrote several years ago on using deadlines to silence the inner critic
• April's great Wednesday Writing Workout on overcoming our writing fears in this post, which includes a terrific poem
• Mary Ann's post on when to listen to the inner critic
• Jeanne Marie's post on how she uses an outline to quiet her critic 
• JoAnn's post on how she outsmarts her critic by getting up early

The following articles may also be of interest:

• Ryan Urie's piece on Write to Done on "How Fear Helps You Be a Better Writer"
• Suzannah Windsor Freeman's article on Write It Sideways, "15 Common Writing Fears You Need To Face"
• Sage Cohen's post at Writer's Digest on "10 Ways to Harness Fear and Fuel Your Writing"

I'll still be at the conference when this post goes live. But when I get back, I'd love to know how you, our TeachingAuthors readers, cope with your inner critic. Please share in the comments below.

Happy writing,

Carmela