The first card said I should turn off the “inner critic” when I write.
You know, that little voice (that sometimes isn’t so little) that comments on
every single word I put on the page. The one that questions character
motivation, plot development, word choice, leads, endings… the list is endless.
That inner critic always sounds like a very proper English teacher and she’s
damn annoying most of the time. This card in the reading is giving me
permission to tell Ms. Critic (maybe Sister Critic – after all, I went to
Catholic schools for twelve years so…) to SHUT UP! I don’t know if I’ll be able
to do it, but if I can, I might be able to write something that breaks the
rules a little and really catches the attention of readers.
The second card said I should try to walk in the shoes of my characters
so I can get at their true emotions. I will be able to write more griping
reactions to story events if I can tap into the souls of my fictional friends.
Now, characters are my writing strength – many of my reviews comment on my
characters and how real they seem. I’m looking forward to connecting with them
on a deeper level to see where that leads me… well, where it leads us, technically, I suppose. This may be
a challenge for me as a person. I tend to not mess around with emotions all
that much. I shrug off things that bother me and rarely have strong reactions,
positive or negative, to events that occur in my life. I’m not sure why I do
that, but I’ll have to push that aside if I want to get in touch better with my
characters… and myself.
The final card said that I must
write, because, as the intuitive said, “People need to read what you write.”
She emphasized the word need and
repeated this entire line more than once as if making sure I heard it and
internalized it. I’d like to know what
I should write that people need to read. Is it adult romance or young adult
romance or both? Is it the political story my husband and I are working on? Is
it the educational book on writing for teachers I’m currently editing? Is it
poetry? Is it something I haven’t thought of writing yet?
I don’t have the answer to these questions, but I’m going to keep
writing just the same. I’ve tried not writing in the past and it never sticks.
Not when ideas are all around me, jumping in my lap, screaming in my ear,
sometimes slapping me in the face.
I’m a writer. I guess I knew that, but it was nice to have the Angels
confirm it.
What would you ask the Angels?
Chris
www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com
Adult Romance
www.christymajor.weebly.com
YA Romancewww.christineteaches.weebly.com Teaching Writing
4 comments:
Sounds like the angels had some good advice, Chris!
Chris, you certainly got your answer and then some. I think many of us would ask the same question. Go angels!
Interesting reading. My angels are teaching me patience. sigh.
Oh wow, I love this blog post...very interesting and inspiring. I love the answers the Angels had for you. I could use some of that advice myself. I hope you're able to listen to the Angels. :-) You MUST turn off that inner critic. Remember two things; No one will look at your work until you're ready, so just write. AND, it's better than you think. You are your own worse critic.
Best of luck!
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