Dear Geist,
Advice to writers always includes strategies for shutting down the critic within. I am a pretty good critic, having spent years editing books. Now I’m writing, and I am reluctant to shut down those instincts and skills. Any tips?
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Dear Nabih,
The inner critic doesn’t need to be shut down, just distracted or upstaged while the writer is working. Journal writing, freewriting, mind-mapping and other activities that arouse your intuitive, subconscious side will invigorate the writer. When it’s time to revise, the critic will be invaluable.
—The Editors