The Critic On My Shoulder

My computer desk is cluttered–oh, not big-time piles of stuff, but to some people it would seem messy. Then, I thought about where I left the heroine of my current work in progress yesterday, and, although she has no idea of what is going to happen next, I do, so I considered ways of getting her from here to there. You know what was happening all this time these thoughts were running through my head? It was as if a little, invisible critic were sitting on my shoulder, telling me that I am disorganized, that I should arrange my desk neatly before returning to writing, that I should have an outline in front of me that I carefully follow, etc.

Do you ever have that problem? While you are doing your best and actually making progress, negative thoughts war against the positive, trying to make you doubt that you can? I don’t know where they come from, but if I cleaned my desk, made sure I was following somebody else’s formula for success, I have a feeling my poor heroine would never leave the place she was sitting when I stopped writing yesterday.

It is, sometimes, hard to turn off these roadblocks to writing, but it can be done. They are kind of like static on an old-time radio, keeping the message from being loud and clear. The message? “You can do it. Nothing is ever won by quitting. You map out your own road to success, not somebody else’s road.” That’s the voice I prefer hearing and that’s the voice that gets the job done. My brother used to remind me of a funny rhyme: When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout. That would be me if I tried to follow somebody else’s rules.

We are made in the image of God. If we didn’t have roadblocks, hindrances, negative influences, who knows what great things we might be able to do? So, I’m turning off the clutter inside my head, the little critic sitting on my shoulder, and I’m forging ahead. I like that word, “forge”. It means to make something, to press onward, to make progress.

Today, at the NW Arkansas Writers’ Conference, I look forward to hearing writers helping other writers. I am anticipating being encouraged, invigorated, and getting lots of pointer on forging!