Mama Dont Allow No Fighting in Your Writing

When you sit down to write a steamy romance, a spine-tingling horror story, or an action-packed adventure, lock the door. The last thing you need is your mother, father, coach, English teacher or pastor reading over your shoulder and giving you advice.

While mom, dad, coach, Mrs. Smith and Reverend Jones all enjoy a good story, they don't want action-packed, spine-tingling or steamy words flowing out of your pen or your word processor

What would your mother say if she saw you write, "Bob chopped off Bill's ear with a rusty axe"? What would your English teacher say if she saw you write, "Janice discovered to her horror that reading Faulkner backwards called demons into the school library." And, heaven help you, what would your pastor say if he saw you write, "When Arnold reached inside Amy's blouse, she said, 'surely you can reach farther than that'"?

With a little luck, mom, dad, coach, Mrs. Smith and Reverend Jones won't be physically in the room saying "tsk tsk" every time you mention rusty axes, demons, and blouses. However, if you write as though they are there, then they might as well be there.

In fact, if you worry about what any traditional authority figure in your life is going to say when s/he reads what you've written, you'll never write it. The judgmental editor(s) inside your head will be so strong, your writing won't get out of the blocks because you'll be forever stuck between what you want to say and what you think you're allowed to say.

Frankly, some writers will never get the critical voices out of their heads and write anything worth reading until the people they represent are all in prison, committed to psychiatric wards, or dead. But most of us don't want to wait that long.

As your career progresses, you'll ultimately come to the point where you live and breathe novelist Leon Uris' words: "There are two weapons in the writer's arsenal. The first is stamina and the second is uncompromising belief in yourself."

Until you reach that point, here are a few ideas for banishing mom, dad, coach, the English teacher and the reverend from your mind while writing:

**Whether you write in a den or a spare corner in the kitchen or family room, design a rich, inspiring, and professional space. You are a professional writer doing professional work, not a child in need of any authority figure's supervision. Some writers go a step farther and physically lock the door (if there is a door) and/or visualize their writing spaces surrounded by a force fields that repel unwanted intrusions like, "I don't want you writing nothing naughty, you hear?"

**Resist the urge to tinker and pick at your work while writing the first draft. Tinkering stalls the creative process and allows those unwanted internal editors time to say, "No child of mine ought to be thinking about blood-spattered sheets."

**Experiment with "free writing," the process of writing at full-speed (as fast as you can type or move a pen) for 20 minutes, 45 minutes, or an hour without stopping or thinking for even a moment. In this unrestrained creative rush, there's no time or space for discouraging words such as, "You're not going to push that sweet woman off the roof are you?"

**Take the risk and pretend you are each of the characters you're writing about as though you're playing roles in a movie. This technique will not only help you get to know your characters and make them more real, but it might just keep those internal editors out of your face. Once you become transform yourself into a villain or a hero running down a dark alley with a knife, those voices will be much to frightened of you to say, "don't run with sharp objects, dear."

**Confront the authority figures inside your head directly. When one of them interrupts your work with "Mama don't allow nothin' gory in your story" or "Daddy can't abide nothin' stronger than 'heck' or 'darn' in your yarn," stop writing and shout, "Get the #@#* out of my space." Some writers draw faces on sheets of paper and tape them to pillows. Then, the next time they hear a discouraging word about the word they just wrote, they can shout at the pillow, while kicking and punching it as needed. (Don't tape the picture of a real person on the pillow without consulting a counselor!)

Internal editors-when they sneak into your mind under the guise of a mother, father, coach, teacher, or minister who claims s/he is "just trying to help"-will try to sabotage your work before it sees the light of day, before it embarrasses the family, before it sullies their values, before it causes black marks to be inscribed on your permanent record.

In time, perhaps, the people in your life who matter will understand that the steam in the romance, the scream in the horror story, and the mangled corpse in the adventure are not the real you. Perhaps they already know that, but you don't yet believe it and have been creating two fictions every time you sit down at your desk. One of these is the story you're writing and the other is the equally fictional story your living inside your head filled with mothers, fathers, coaches, ministers, wives, husbands, sons, daughters and teachers who are forever criticizing your work before it's half-way done.

You can speculate until the ink in your pen dries up whether injunctions like "Mama don't allow no fighting in my writing" have anything to do with real authority figures or represent your own concerns about what you ought to write and how you ought to write it. Either way, an important part of every writer's on-the-job training is learning which technique will silence any internal editor with the gall to say, "I don't want no crooks in your books" or "There better not be anything risqu� in what you have to say."

The author of the mythic new age adventure novel "The Sun Singer," Malcolm R. Campbell provides manucript critiques and editing assistance at http://www.campbelleditorial.com

---

Do I Have To Be A Good Writer to Market My Own Business?

Many of the most effective low-cost marketing strategies require writing.... Read More

Self-examination vs Self-indulgence

Self-examination is brutally honest. Self-indulgence is brutally maudlin.Writing requires the... Read More

Write Possibilities

We writers are a powerful lot. We control time. We... Read More

Why Every Freelancer Should Have A Web Site

"Do I send samples, a media kit, or just the... Read More

Does Your Theme Contain Character, Conflict, Resolution?

Creative Writing Tips ?For a theme to work and the... Read More

You Cant Always Believe What You See On Your Computer Screen

You may not remember this, but in the early days... Read More

How You Can Become a Certified and Profitable Proofreader

A certified proofreader is one that has taken a few... Read More

Editing for Perfection ? The Personal Statement

This article contains a short guide on how to edit... Read More

Basic Word Processing Tips for Writers

Word processors are so widely used now that I tend... Read More

Freelance or Staff

There is no doubt that a staff writer enjoys advantages... Read More

Publication Road

The journey to having my first novel for children published... Read More

Novel to Screenplay: The Challenges of Adaptation

ADAPTATION 101Brimming with confidence, you've just signed the check purchasing... Read More

5 Easy Steps To Writing Your Appealing Letter

You must write a hypnotic persuasion letter to help you... Read More

Slow Pokes: Short Story On The Changing World Of Writing

"No one will ever know who I am, I'm a... Read More

How Can You Find Freelance Work As A Writer?

For those looking at the jobs listings for writers, they... Read More

Learn to Write Like a Pro

Many writers write for the experience. Others dream of having... Read More

Use These 3 Editing Tips to Ensure Your Writing Hits the Bull?s-Eye

The first step in the writing process is to put... Read More

Writing with a Sense of Adventure

We've all been told that we need to use all... Read More

Write With Passion: 4 Steps To Emotionally Charge A Nonfiction Article

You have just completed a draft of an article. It... Read More

How to Write Words Worth a Thousand Pictures

Our Image-Driven SocietyWe live in a new image-driven society. It... Read More

Does Your Story Have A Theme?

Creative Writing Tips ?It should.A theme is a one-line explanation... Read More

Do You Know What A Plot Is?

Creative Writing Tips ?What a plot is and what a... Read More

Writing Help

Whether you are working for a small business, large corporation,... Read More

The Writers Angst

What is this annoying, insidious angst that permeates my psyche?... Read More

Seven Suggestions To Develop a Superb Writing Style

Every writer eventually develops her own unique style of writing.... Read More

The Writing Club

Typically when falling asleep in bed at night great thoughts... Read More

Platform Development Tip #1: Switch Writing Hats!

Around eighty percent of nonfiction books today are written by... Read More

Writing from Home: It Can Be Great and Not-So-Great for Mothers

I went to school to be a teacher. In fact,... Read More

Writers Turn to the Internet for Support, Friendship and Advice

Riding on the fumes of potential, you take pen to... Read More

Making Better Word Choices ? 4 Examples

Choosing the wrong words can have a poor effect on... Read More

Character Motivation - Always Ask WHY

For many years, I've been a tutor for students undertaking... Read More

Friendly Critiques

When a writer is working on their next literary masterpiece... Read More

Creative Writing Tips - Does The Name You Chose Suit Your Character?

How do you choose a name? Do you put down... Read More