Get Sanity: Kill Your Inner Critic

We all have an inner critic. Our inner critic tells us we're not very good writers. He mocks our writing while we're writing, and he makes it hard for us to get writing clients.

Over the years, I've used the following "kill your inner critic" exercise many times. My own inner critic rarely bothers to say anything these days.

The exercise:
Write a letter to your inner critic, describing five ways in which your inner critic is damaging your writing.

Start the letter with "Dear Inner Critic: I know you want what's best for me, but you're ruining my writing and my life in these five ways."

How I created the exercise, and its effects
I created this exercise for one of my mentoring students. He's a terrific writer, but he was writing very little because he used to find writing torture. His inner critic was totally in charge.

For example, when I asked him to do a five minute free writing exercise and send me the results, his writing was anything but free. He couldn't be spontaneous - he was editing in his head.

His inner critic wouldn't let him write naturally. It insisted on getting into the act. I devised the "letter to your inner critic" exercise to help him to understand that his inner critic had an Off switch. Whenever he wished to, he could communicate with his inner critic, and turn it off.

The result? My young writer friend found that he was much more creative. He found writing fun, and wrote more. He started to sell, and is working on his third book. He's on great terms with his inner critic, who now only shows up when he’s invited to, during the editing process.

Exercise 7. Write a letter to your inner critic.

The letter can be as short, or as long as you please. Write the letter in your journal.