Current Project:Status: Approximately 72,000 words
Most Recent Read: Allan Dean Foster, Icerigger
Current Read: ADF's Mission to Moulokin. It is so old and fragile that I've been carrying it around in a protective bag, to keep it from falling further apart.
Planned Next Read: ADF's The Deluge Drivers (finish out the series) All three books are in my personal library.
I am an early morning writer, by which I mean my strongest, most creative writing occurs when the house is still silent, my brain is not yet filled with the challenges of the day, and the birds can be heard welcoming the sunrise. I love sipping a cup of tea, lighting a small tealight candle and watching the sky over the fir trees slowly lighten to a pale gray, shift to a light rose, then burst into a multi-hued palette of colors.
(Photo courtesy of http://freefoto.com/)My current writing project, Ghost Girl, is 72,000 words strong in its first draft stage. This is the first book I have written. Although not my first attempt. I have many, many false starts saved to disc and handwritten in notebooks. The closest I have ever come to this word count is 88 pages.
You know that pesky Internal Editor? The one that creeps into your thoughts and says, 'Who do you think you are, thinking you can write? This is trash, and any self-respecting author will laugh if you dare show it to anyone!'
Yeah, you know the one. Well, I got mad at my Internal Editor. And I slammed the door in its face. Basically, I told it, "Who do think YOU are, trying to corrupt my lifelong dreams and goals of being a published author? NOONE can tell me I am unable to succeed at something - especially YOU!"
Now, this doesn't completely keep the Internal Editor from cracking the door and sniffing the air, testing my resolve to ignore it. But everytime I feel its presence sneaking up over my shoulder, I shove it back out the door and firmly lock it out. Because you know what? That rude, bellicose Internal Editor is nothing more than my Self Doubt. Which means it is really ME ruining my desire to be a published author. And Momma is not buying.
So, yes, I am going strong with my first draft of my first full-length book. I don't expect the book to be perfect - there is so much to learn while perfecting my writing skills. But in compensation there is also the thrill of learning and applying those skills to my work in progress.
I tell my fellow MWVRWA members that I view this as a 'training wheels' book. Of course I am giving it my best (which for me means 125%, plus) , but I recognize that as a first attempt there is a lot of learning involved. But this time, with this book, the door is slammed on the Internal Editor. I know that when this book is completed, when even the first draft is completed, I will be a much stronger writer than when I started. I can already see the difference, from the beginning of the rough draft to where I am now, building up to the final climax, and the strong improvements made. I can hardly wait to read the end!
So my question to you is, how do you close the door on your Internal Editor? Is it a monster in the closet? Or an insidious internal voice trying to disguise itself as a friend? How do you kick it out?
