Fighting the Inner Critic

As a writer, it can sometimes be easy to find yourself in a crisis of faith, confronted with either frequent writer's block or simply the creeping feeling that everything you are writing is only okay. These are relatively common phenomena, and things that I believe all of us writers are bound to run into at some point in our journeys, if not all the time. It can be extremely easy to get discouraged by an inability to get a story down exactly as you want it or envision that it should be, coming away with the conclusion that you simply don't have what it takes. Or perhaps, feeling motivated to improve your skills, you take part in some sort of writing workshop only to find yourself frustratingly surrounded with people who have apparently mastered the craft to a far greater and more impressive degree than you have. This second obstacle to self-satisfaction is one I have personally had to deal with several times, and always presents new opportunities for self-doubt. The thing to do in these times when you feel a creeping sense of disillusionment in your own abilities is always to recenter yourself, and to really think hard about why you are writing and the point of self-criticism. Taking joy in your work, being able to have fun every time you pound out new tales on your keyboard, should always be the goal. Being good means nothing if the process of joyless, and so the spark of fun must be preserved at all costs. Secondly, there is never a good reason to beat yourself up just because someone's work appears to be "better" than yours does. Take it as a learning opportunity, use it as a chance to improve your own creative work, and see how taking notes from those more experienced/accomplished than you will allow you to grow significantly. These are all such simple practices, and ones I am undoubtedly repeating from some earlier post, but failure is simply a part of writing, since writing is simply inherently incredibly difficult. Treat the improvement of your creative abilities with a degree of humility and excitement, and the viewing of the creative work of others as a chance to get better, and you will find yourself feeling far more motivated. If you know writing truly brings you joy, do not let your inner critic or other people get in the way of your own success and happiness.