The 3 Biggest Lies Your Inner Editor is Telling You

All writers are naturally insecure about their work. I know I am. We all have out hang-ups about our diction, our mechanics, our themes and plots. We're worried that what we're writing about might be overworked-- or worse, overdone. Visions of rejection letters dance in our heads.

Sound like you? If so, then I'm here to tell you that your inner editor-- the little voice in your head that yells at you to get the red pen and the thesaurus-- is probably lying to you in ways you don't even know about.

Lie #1: Nothing You Do Will Ever Be Good Enough, So Just Give Up

This idea plagues a lot of people, even non-writers. Okay, Captain Obvious moment over. This kind of thinking is statistically untrue. Look at all the published authors in the world, including self-published ones. If there were any way of falsifying this claim, I'd bet you that at least a quarter of them have agonized over the thought that their writing would never be published. And then they got published anyway!

Your publisher won't want to publish everything you write. But the good thing about publishers is that they're willing to let you make changes to your work. That's what your agent is for. Sure, not everything you write will be good. But that doesn't mean that you're not capable of good writing.

J. K. Rowling was practically homeless when she started writing Harry Potter. Rick Riordan's Camp Half-Blood Chronicles started as a bedtime story to one of his sons. What they have in common is writing and rewriting. They stuck with their good ideas and discarded or recycled their bad ideas. But they didn't give up. Neither should you. Who knows-- the next Harry Potter might be inside your brain right now.

Lie #2: Your First Draft Is Unfixably Bad

So many beginning writers are terrified that their first drafts suck. It's okay-- they do suck. They're supposed to suck. They're called first drafts for a reason. Sir Terry Pratchett said, "The first draft is just you telling yourself the story." He's written a lot of books, so he knows what he's talking about. Trust PTerry. 

Your first draft should be fun-- or at least not actually painful to write. Enjoy yourself during the writing process. Allow yourself to write silly crap. Fill your story with undecipherable nonsense. You can fix it later. For now, just write. Don't drive yourself to distraction with the worry that it's no good. Just tell yourself the story.

Lie #3: Someone Else Could Do It Better

This lie is a big problem for me. I primarily write urban and historical fantasy (when I'm not writing fanfic) so I constantly worry that someone else has already used the totally brilliant and unique idea I just had. There are only so many ways to write elves before you end up stealing from Tolkien, after all.

But this is a lie for a reason. Sure, there are established writers with years of experience under their belts and big-name publishers on speed dial. Their prose may be tighter, their vocabulary bigger. 

But they're not you.  Whatever you write will be unique, even if it's fanfiction, because no one else has seen the world in the same way you have. Don't worry if your ideas seem overdone. Don't worry that you're not a big-name writer. Your point of view is still important. No one else in the world shares your experiences. You deserve to have your voice heard. So start writing!

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