Smackdown Your Inner Critic and Write!

by Jacquelyn B. Fletcher

I told Maria I would get this post to her a week ago. But my Inner Critic, a.k.a. The Heavyweight, tricked me. Instead of beating me up with insecurities about my writing, it seduced me with the siren song of other things to do.

And so this post comes at a good time. When I originally wrote Squelch Your Inner Censor for Writer’s Digest, I was only beginning to understand the power of the smackdown. I had used the techniques to lose 100 pounds and ease my fear of public speaking before I tried out the techniques on writers I taught at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. During the seven years I taught there, the success stories added up.

So what is a Smackdown? They are techniques my co-author Clare X. Gailey and I came up with to combat your doubt, fear, and procrastination. They are actions you can do to turn on the reticular activating system in your brain that helps you see the solutions to problems so you can achieve your writing goals.

If you’ve been seduced like me or beaten up by your Inner Critic then I invite you to try the smackdowns below. However, since smackdowns don’t work forever, the best ones are those you come up with that fit your personality, motivation, and lifestyle.

Stay In The Traffic
Once you start smacking down The Heavyweight it gets easier to do. Choose one fear. Make a list of ten things that you need to do in order to face that fear. For instance, if you are scared of telling your editor you think you deserve a raise, make a list of the ten reasons why you think you should get one. Then make a list of the ten things you need to do to feel confident enough to approach your editor. Dressing in a suit you feel good in might be one item. Writing out a script of what you’re going to say might be a second. Get to know people who are good at asking for what they want and learn from them. Then do one of your action steps. It doesn’t matter which item you start with, as long as you’re doing something. As long as you’re in the traffic.

Schedule Your Work Sessions and Show Up Every Time
Show up even if you sit and doodle for half an hour instead of “actually working.” When you schedule an appointment, you’re courting a co-worker (yourself, of course) whom you’ve secretly been in love with for a long time. Showing up proves you’re reliable and trustworthy and sweet and optimistic, and doodling proves you’re fun. Your co-worker, who has secretly been in love with you, too, will start to feel safe and free and demonstrative; and one day, your work and your love life will be one and the same.

Laugh
No, really. Right now. Do it! Laugh! We all know that a good laugh is great medicine, the perfect way to shut up the Inner Critic, etc. But part of being down is not finding anything funny, lacking the stimulus to set it off, and lacking the ability to respond to the stimulus. But you don’t need a stimulus. You don’t need something external to set you off. Fake laughing is one of the fastest routes to laughing for real, because you’re doing something so silly and, frankly, taboo. “You don’t just start laughing for no reason; that makes no sense!!!” says the Inner Critic. But it works. It makes you feel better.

Find Your Inspiration in Unusual Places
Writer’s Block? Creative constipation? Problem showing up at the desk? Try exploring the reasons why you’re procrastinating and not doing and celebrate them. Singer Gwen Stefani has a fab video called What You Waiting For? a song about needing to be inspired to do her work. The Heavyweight is clearly enjoying itself as she struggles to write. She avoids sitting down at the piano by taking naps, talking to friends, and playing video games. But eventually she finds the motivation to work within the experience itself. How can you find the courage or inspiration to get up and do that thing you’ve been avoiding?
For more smackdowns, visit www.101smackdowns.com.

Tagged as: inspiration