I was reading one of my writing reference books, Writing Down the Bones, and to paraphrase – let the writing do the writing.
I forgot this. I allowed myself to become tangled in the technical aspects of writing. Show versus tell. Tenses. Action versus passive. What to share and what not to share. Start with action or not. How much history. Whose point of view. Plotting versus pantsing, which is what I’ve always done in the past.
I’d gotten locked in my own head, my professional editor’s head and not my internal editor’s head. I’d been so concerned about turning off my critic that I forgot about my other profession – editing.
It was this brain that sneaked in. While an editor can write and a writer can editor, these are two very different ways to think and work. Writers have all talked about turning off their critic, and maybe it’s just me, but I’m that particular to have more than one editor. I need to remember to turn that client/author-editor off as well as the critic-editor.
I forgot to listen to the story. Didn’t listen to the characters. I forgot the fun. I was responsible for my own blockage.
I’m not saying the writing is any easier with this knowledge, but I am approaching my writing differently.
I will find the balance between my three brain-minds. Well, at least these three, the others await their turn.