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How to Develop Your Writing Through Inspirational Self-Critics

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By Leslie Anglesey

All writers have some type of inner editor. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have the discipline necessary to stay on track and on topic to either work for clients or focus on their own projects. At first glance, having this built-in critic might seem like a recipe for squashing creativity, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be something that will stop a writer in his or her virtual tracks.
Develop your inner critic
At times, self-criticism has been blamed for the famous “writer’s block” but it may not be fair to blame getting stuck on the inner editor.

Many factors can contribute to a creative person having trouble getting into the groove of a project or having trouble getting started.

The issue may be:

  • fatigue
  • boredom
  • stress in another area of the writer’s life
  • creative process the writer needs to go through to get a flash of inspiration hasn’t resulted in an “a-ha” moment yet

While the internal editor can’t be shut off entirely, there are ways to work with it to develop your writing. Keep in mind that it exists for a purpose, and you want to make sure that it doesn’t become so powerful that you are reticent to let anyone see your work.

Use a Diamond Shaped Model When Listening to Your Inner Editor

When you are thinking about how and when you should listen to your inner editor, consider using a diamond-shaped model to keep you on track with your writing projects. It should help you determine how to proceed.

When you are contemplating a project or thinking of making a pitch to an editor, keep your inner editor firmly in the background. This is the narrow part of the diamond shape. Don’t let it get in the way by telling you that you are wasting your time or that you aren’t good enough, so why are you bothering to apply or contact that editor. As a writer, you will get rejected, but you have no chance of getting anywhere if you never make a move toward your goals.

As you land a project and move into the broader part of the diamond shape, you want to start listening to your inner critic more. If you are ever tempted to stop digging in your research or not to go the extra mile because, “It’s probably good enough,” allow this part of your mind to poke or guilt you into giving your work that little bit of extra effort to make it the very best you can produce.

Likewise, don’t let any piece of writing leave your desk until you have taken the time to proofread and edit it carefully. This piece of advice also falls under the category of listening to your inner editor in the middle of a project, whether you are working on something for school or on a professional basis. Good enough simply isn’t good enough. Your inner editor should be on high alert at this stage of the game.

Confidence above All

As you proofread and edit your second draft, you should be able to feel a bit more confident about your work. Using the example of the diamond shape, the editor should once more start to go back toward the background, and you should be able to focus on your voice in your writing when you read the final version of your work. By the time you get to the version you are ready to turn in to your instructor or the client, the internal editor should be firmly in the background, leaving only your voice in place when you read through your work.

Will your work ever be exactly perfect as a writer? There will always be something that you “could” be doing to alter, fix, or tweak a piece of work to make it better, more interesting, or more “something.” There will have to be a point at which you may need to simply tell your inner editor that you have done your best and that it will have to be good enough. That’s all anyone can do, and you will try again with your next piece of writing, which is how writers grow and develop their craft.

What are your tricks for dealing with the inner critic?

Author’s Bio: Leslie Anglesey, PhD, is an affiliate professor who loves to dedicate all her free time to writing. She is an editor at http://www.essaytigers.com and is always helping others to bring passion to their writing.

Image: Flickr CC

Our Top 15 Posts Ever

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By Andy Crestodina

Since the beginning, this blog has helped more than a million visitors learn hundreds of important lessons. You, the readers and writers, have shared your experiences and techniques through more than 1000 posts and nearly 100,000 comments.

In this post, we’ll look back the 1000+ posts on Successful Blog and review. All of these, of course, were written by our beloved Liz. Some of these were instant classics. Others were their own mini-viral events. Each is an example of great writing on relevant topics.

So here they are, the top 15 posts in the history of this website…

1. The How to Happiness – Top 10 Ways to Start Living Your Life

“You don’t need to get a life, you’ve already got one.“

2. 10 Reasons Readers Don’t Leave Comments

“It seems that we have the same secret reasons for not leaving our calling card. We want to leave our thoughts, but things get between us and that comment box.”

3. How To Make Your Dream Come True – Through Thought, Strategy and Action

“Wonders, wishes, and waiting without commitment are a whole lot of nothing happening.“

4. 5 Reasons People Don’t Get Hired and the Only 3 Questions that Count

“An interview or a client presentation is a test. It’s like an oral exam in which the subject is you.”

5. Ideas? 20 Questions to Kickstart New Thoughts

“Imagine you just landed on this planet. You’d have a passel of questions and a totally beginner’s view. The key is not to fix things, but to find new reactions to what you encounter.”

6. Are You a Writer? 7 Traits that Writers Have in Common

“Every person is struggling to find a meaning that makes sense. It’s not about money. It’s not about volume of work. It’s about meeting a self-defined goal of becoming a writer.”

7. How to Receive a Compliment Without Being a Self-Centered Idiot

“Focus on the speaker and the value of the speaker’s words. That guarantees your response will be graceful, respectful, and not about you.”

8. 25 Outstanding Links to Help You Write a Compelling Tagline

“How do you pack all of that promise into four or five simple words that will resonate with the folks you want to reach?”

9. Conan’s Good-bye: 10 of 10 in Leadership, Reputation, and Community

“Corporations, small businesses, every one of us could learn a lot from how Conan said good-bye. His words were the careful words of a leader delivered from the heart in a difficult situation.”

10. What Is Humility?

“The funny thing about humility is the second you think you have it, you don’t.”

11. The Problem with Writing… 25 Things to Know BEFORE You Write for a Living

“Writing communicates through across the world, through time, to people I have never met. It captures ideas, inventions, and information. It’s worth it to be even a tiny part of that.”

12. What Is a Social Community

“An online community isn’t built or befriended, it’s connected by offering and accepting. Community is affinity, identity, and kinship that make room for ideas, thoughts, and solutions.“

13. 10 Reasons Creative Folks Make Us Crazy

“What are the traits that creative folks have in common? Are we all creative? Is there anyone who’s not? Can I boost my creativity? Am I a creative freak?”

14. 27 Things to Know Before You Work in Social Media

“This is not a rant, simply a set of observations which are quite similar to the challenges of any communication-based, people-centered endeavor.“

15. 10 Ways to Live In the Moment Every Moment of Your Life

“Ever talked with a guy who’s passionate about his life? He doesn’t give one kind of energy during the hours of 8 to 5 and another when play time arrives. His moments are filled with enthusiasm and determination for being part of everything that he does.”

We hope you enjoyed this round-up. Hopefully, this was a discovery of some of the great posts you missed. Or perhaps it was a rediscovery of posts you read and loved. So many classics.

Feel free to reshare the greats. Better yet, leave a comment and tell us which of these you loved most …or perhaps which of your favorites we left out!

Author’s Bio: This list was compiled by Andy Crestodina, the Strategic Director of Orbit Media. Andy is on and Twitter.

To Publish or Not to Publish? That is the Question…

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By Tiffany Matthews

To be or not to be: that is the question…

One of the most well-known lines in literature, this phrase opens a young man’s soliloquy in Hamlet, the tragic play by William Shakespeare. The young man in question, who happens to be titular character, ponders on the meaning of life–whether it is worth it or not to stay alive when your life is filled with one hardship after another.

“To be or not to be” remains a timeless question that will drive you into introspection if you are still unsure of your writing path–to be or not to be a writer? If you’ve decided to follow your heart and become a wordsmith, you then ponder on the next big question, “To publish or not to publish?”

The Publishing Dream

For many writers, the dream of publishing their own book is an elusive one. Becoming an author doesn’t happen overnight. Just like when you become a writer, you need to read a lot and write a lot before you can become a competent writer. To be an author, it’s gonna take courage, tenacity, hard work, self-confidence and optimism. If you’re determined to get published, the next question to consider is which type would you choose–traditional publishing or self-publishing?

Traditional Publishing

The path to getting published is riddled with grammar, thousands of words, many rewrites, and brutal rejections, especially when you opt for the traditional route. It can take years before manuscripts are turned into books and some don’t even get to see the light of publishing day. You will have to send multiple pitches to not just one but to several publishing houses and even that isn’t a guarantee it will be picked up. If you can afford to wait a few years, use that time to work on your writing, hone your submissions and learn more about the publishing business.

Don’t be discouraged by rejections. Author Stephen King went through many rejection slips before he got published. But he didn’t let that stop him. He remained optimistic and continued writing. As time went by, the rejection letters became a little more encouraging, with one telling him he had talent and that he should submit again. A decade or so later, he finally published his first novel, Carrie, and the rest is history.

Self-Publishing

If your attempts at publishing traditionally take you to a dead end, you can consider your second option, self-publishing. While this choice can narrow the time it takes to get published, it means more work than when you publish traditionally. First of all, you need to have considerable knowledge of what publishing entails like designing the book, editing, illustrating and even the marketing, promotional and sales aspects. You’ll also need a good dose of self-confidence, hammered by years of experience in the writing industry. You should also set a reasonable time frame to accomplish everything, like one year.

One thing you should remember is that when you self-publish, you are considered to be the publisher of your book and thus, must embrace whatever legal responsibilities that come with it. If you are on a budget, you can get affordable prepaid legal services to help you whenever you encounter legal issues during publishing.

Books Don’t Appear By Magic…

Another thing you must keep in mind is that books aren’t made overnight. Your first manuscript will go through several edits, rewrites and fine-tuning before you can pitch it to traditional publishing houses. If you decide to self-publish, you will have to do the brunt of the work, including tirelessly promoting your book online and local bookstores in your area. But if your story is worth sharing, word-of-mouth recommendations and glowing book reviews might just land you a deal with traditional publishing house.

If you haven’t started writing that book you want to publish, today is a good day to start. Don’t let fear of failure stop you from accomplishing your publishing dream. You can make your dream come true if you try. Be empowered by what Stephen King said in his book, On Writing,

“You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”

Author’s Bio: Based in San Diego, California, Tiffany Matthews writes about travel, fashion and anything under sun at wordbaristas.com. You can find her on Twitter as
@TiffyCat87.

How I Unclog a Case of Writer’s Block

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By Stacey Thompson

Writer’s block. It happens to the best of us. You may have had a good night’s sleep, a comfortable chair, the right resources, and a topic… and yet, your writing muscles refuse to flex, and you are left staring at the flickering prompt at the upper left side of a mostly-empty screen, or driving a hole into your pad with a pen.

Do a Google search and you’ll find that many writers have their own ways of dealing with this creative blockage. It’s not exactly a one-size-fits-all proposition, so it’s a good idea to get as many ideas as possible. Utilizing those bits of wisdom, concoct your own anti-writer’s-block remedies. Hopefully, one or more of them work.

Let me enumerate mine, and see if any of them work for you:

Unfamiliar Ground

Find a new place to ply your craft. Stand up, pack your mobile writing implements (paper notepad, notebook computer, restaurant receipts, toilet paper, human flesh scroll, etc.) and wander. In my case, I pack my tablet (equipped with a cover/keyboard, because I can’t type fast on a touch screen), some loose change for coffee, and a Taser pistol (you can never be too careful).

The new sights and sounds definitely help me get out of the funk, and for as long as I find a comfortable spot to whip out my tablet and type away, I’ll be able to get some paragraphs out.

Drop It Like It’s Hot

When the first remedy doesn’t yield any positive result, I just stop trying for the meanwhile and distract my mind with something else entirely. This should be easy for most of us, as the modern world is rife with distractions. You could live your entire life distracted, in fact. Those closest I have come to that is a three hour Fruit Ninja binge on the tablet. Made my fingers hurt, too.

Time out from writing gives the mind some time to recharge and recuperate. Unfortunately, we who write for a living don’t have the luxury of too much off-time, so this solution may not be the best course of action to take when writing projects are restricted by a deadline.

Get Physical

Corollary to the tip above, go engage in an activity that requires the least synaptic activity. This ranges from sports and fitness-related stuff, to exposing your mind to slapstick, lowbrow, and even outright pornographic stimulation. Nothing is taboo (except if it’s against the laws of the land, of course)!

Too much of anything can be detrimental, so be sure to set limits to your physical fun-time distractions.

Nothing

Well, not absolutely nothing. Meditation, yoga, drinking tea, isolating yourself in a dark room, or even a light nap are ways you can calm your tempestuous mind and rejuvenate your creative juices. Find a place you can be undisturbed for hours at a time, and proceed with the refilling.

Yeah, it means you have to put away your tablet and other mobile devices.

I hope one of these tips will be the proverbial plunger that will help unclog your creative pipeline!

Author’s Bio: Stacey Thompson (@RedHotStacey) is a professional writer, marketer, entrepreneur, and a lover of weird little animals. She is based in San Diego, California, and is definitely not beyond seeking expert advice from competent and highly professional consultancy firms like MyCorporation. Stacey and her gang have a blog, Word Baristas.

How to Write and Get Your Work Published

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By Alisha Webb

Many people feel as though they have a story in them, or simply the innate ability to get an important message out there, but the majority don’t really know how to go about doing this. Here are some tips as to how.

getting published

The yearning

Writing is in your blood, at least it should be if you feel like you have something to say that you would like to get published. If it’s not in you, then it can be the hardest thing in the world to push and so perhaps you shouldn’t even begin to try. If you feel that it is there, however, but you don’t know how to let it out, then this might be the right place for you.

Writing cannot be learned in the same way that you used to read your textbooks at school in order to fill you in on the parts that you weren’t sure of in your English literature exams. It can, of course, be studied, but the dedication and need to get published goes a long way past any kind of formal training.

Routine

From afar, writing might seem like some romantic pastime; a passionate, instinctive practice that soars through the writer and forces itself onto the page. In an ideal world this would be true and it would also be very easy. Unfortunately, this type of gift is a very rare one and the vast majority of all writers really have to force themselves to put the words on the page. The double misfortune is that those words often just do not want to come and instead you are left staring at an empty page.

Once you have accepted that the words do not always, or even often, flow like water, it is essential that you designate a part of your life to writing. You name the time, as this is preferably done daily, and then you eradicate everything else from your life during that time. This is not a magic trick that will unleash your natural powers, there still will be many hours sat alone and wordless, but this 100% commitment to your work on a daily basis is of paramount importance if you really hope to eventually succeed.

Admit your imperfections

A big predicament many writers find themselves in is that they are unable to ever finish the work they have started. It is very easy to fall into the trap of being incapable of letting your work go. You must admit that nothing will ever be perfect and know when is the right time to call it a day on a certain piece of work. If you don’t do this you run the risk of getting stuck in a rut which you can’t move on from. It is much better to have two or three “finished” pieces of work that you are not completely happy with rather than dwelling needlessly over one that will never get finished. Even the great novels that you read at school would be tweaked by their authors if they were able to go back to them now. Accept that yours is not everything you hoped for and move onto the next one that you promise will be better.

Read

You cannot operate in a vacuum. If you want to get published you need to be aware of the places where your finished work could find a home. Being aware of what is out there and sending these people your work often helps you make initial connections that will prove more fruitful in the future. This is an essential part of the process. Reading other people’s work can give you the confidence to see that there is a market for the material you yourself are looking to write.

Do not fear rejection

Sending out your first piece of work to an editor can be the most nerve wracking thing in the world. You have laboured over this piece of material for hours and now you have to let somebody tell you that it isn’t any good. You have to be ready for rejection. It is likely that you will be knocked back many more times than you are accepted, but this is all a part of the real learning process. Never take praise or criticism personally and be thankful for all and any of the comments that you get. The flutter you feel in your stomach when you see an email or a letter come back to you from an editor is one of the best feelings in the world. Remember that this feeling comes before you know whether the answer is a positive or negative. It really doesn’t matter all that much. If you are a true writer, you will carry on regardless, and one fine day they will be writing English literature textbooks that include your own work.

Good luck.

Author’s Bio: Alisha is a British writer working out of Barcelona and a content developer at York Notes; you can connect with her on Twitter.

Spring Cleaning for the Mind

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By Tiffany Matthews

There will come a time when you find yourself unable to write, not just for hours at end, but days and weeks. The worst is when those weeks stretch into months. By then, the screen’s cursor constant blinking would become a taunting reminder that you have yet to type words, not even one word. If you’re suffering from a serious case of writer’s block, simple tips to beat blank page syndrome will no longer suffice. Badly burned out and drained of every last drop of creative juice? It’s time to call in the big guns.

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

When a writer friend suddenly announced on Facebook that she was going to unplug and go away for awhile, I was concerned. I wondered what she could possibly be going through. I had my answer when she resurfaced online three long months later. Apparently, she had been dutifully following a 12-week program based on Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way. Judging from her relaxed and happier mood, the long break has been helpful in restoring her creativity as well as productivity. The program also helped her get over her major case of writer’s block and gave her more insight on the artistic process.

Some people will not like everything about The Artist’s Way. The long period required to complete the program will not appeal to active writers–who are trying to survive daily life and–who can’t afford to break off from work just for the sake of creativity. There are a couple of things in this book, however, that they can can still do–morning pages and artist dates.

Morning Pages

Every day for the next 12 weeks, you have to pen three handwritten pages, all done first thing in the morning during a stream of consciousness, which means you can’t look back at the previous pages you have written. If you’re not a morning person, you might think twice about waking up early for this exercise. You’ll probably wonder how you can write when you’re still drowsy. Once you get started, however, you’ll be surprised to discover clarity and how easily you can fill up 3 pages. When you write, don’t think, just let the words flow. Ramble if you must. When you read the sheets, you’ll find out that your true thoughts–some repressed–and find a way to resolve some of the issues that have been in your mind for a long time. This practice of morning pages also helps transform writing into more of a daily habit and makes the words flow easier.

Artist Dates

“Artist Dates are assigned play.” Once a week, you must embark on an expedition alone in order to explore what is of interest to you. It doesn’t have to be overly artistic, but it should fire up your imagination. An artist date should be fun and whimsical, something that encourages play. Art is all about the play of ideas, so open yourself to fun things that you want to try. When we experience something new or something that we enjoy, it helps fuel our creativity and build up another reservoir of inspiration that we can draw from. Artist dates replenish our creative juices, adding new ideas and images that bring us closer to our inner artist and craft new masterpieces.

General Cleaning

Sometimes people dread spring, not because they are not looking forward to warmer weather but because it’s time for spring cleaning. Cleaning your house from top to bottom until you drop can be therapeutic for writers and artists, not to mention productive. Just remember to invest in a good vacuum cleaner. The no-handles type can help you get rid of every speck of dust, even in those hidden corners under beds and furniture that you can’t reach. Who knows, you just might get some great ideas while you’re cleaning. Having a sparkly clean house also feels very rewarding especially after all the hard work you’ve put in. The actual spring cleaning helps relax your mental state and makes you feel refreshed. The more relaxed you are, the more your ideas will flow so you can now get back to work.

Spring cleaning isn’t just for the house. Sometimes, we need to apply it to ourselves so we can recharge and welcome new changes that will help us grow as writers and artists.

Author’s Bio: Based in San Diego, California, Tiffany Matthews writes about travel, fashion and anything under sun at wordbaristas.com. You can find her on Twitter as
@TiffyCat87.