Silence the Inner Critic: Let the Words Flow First
- A chapter from How To Write Evocative Poetry -
Good writing involves two versions of yourself working on the one piece of work: Artist-You and Editor-You. These two versions of you, must work alone as it is almost impossible to write and edit at the same time.
Firstly, Artist-You gets into the zone, isolates themselves from the world, drinks copious amounts of coffee, does a five-minute headstand, prays to the gods, then does the myriad of other things they feel is necessary for them to get the words going goodly. They write until spent, then they put the piece aside and write something else.
At some later stage, Editor-You comes along and fixes the mess that was left to them. They tweak, they change, they cut, and they correct. Editor-You can do this work because they didn’t write the piece they are working on. They are detached and thus can see it for what it is and make the changes necessary to in order for it pop. Perhaps they also employ the services of an external person to assist them further.
If you are thinking about the end product whilst writing the first words, chances are you will never make it to the end anyway. A better approach, one that will get many more words on the page, is to free write. Write without worrying about what it will become, or worrying about spelling, grammar, or formatting. If you are unsure, perhaps bold some notes to remind yourself to return to add or tweak the gap. Or use square brackets as place holders for important details that you can’t figure out yet, eg: [rhyming word here], that way you can keep writing now, and later easily search your document for what needs fixing. If you write on paper, perhaps a system of post-it notes, or a highlighter would work with a similar functionality. What matters is that you get the words out as they come and polish the piece later, when you have some time and detachment from the emotionality of the initial writing session.
I wrote A Sun Shower during, you guessed it, a sun shower. I was caught by surprise at the sudden change of weather, as well as the deep feelings of joy that simultaneously arose with the contrast of the sun and rain on my face. What is presented below is the refined version of the poem. I wrote it during and just after the sun shower, chronicling what was occurring. The original piece was much longer, with many more superfluous words and lines that repeated the same meaning, adding nothing to the piece. Later that week, in editing, I cut them. I also tweaked the piece to include the threefold repetition of ‘a moment…’ as it seemed to aptly emphasise the transient nature of the sun shower, and as I will go into in a later section, it just sounds good.
A Sun Shower
A sun shower
Beautiful nourishing chaos
Raindrops of gold
Rainbows painting clouds
Warmth of the light
Meets
Chill of the water
A moment of bliss
A moment of peace
A moment of reflection
Birds call
Wind blows
The moment has passed
We Two, Together came in a burst of inspiration. As you will see, it deviates from my normal style (or at least it feels like it to me). For some reason, I felt compelled to lean heavily on symbolism and imagery of nature. As I was writing, another part of me was simultaneously reeling. That part, the inner critic, the editor, was telling me to stop. It was warning me that this piece would turn out clichéd and contrived. That it wouldn’t be ‘good’ and that no one would like it. Worse still, it told me that people would judge me for not only daring to put such drivel onto the page, but for believing it worth sharing.
I try to follow my advice. Write, then edit. So, I gritted my teeth, acknowledged those parts of me providing warning, and continued to write. What is the worst that could happen? I finish it and decide it isn’t that good? No harm done. It would only be me who would see my shame. Not that there is ever any shame when it comes to writing, despite how it may feel at the time. The piece that followed required some tweaking after completion, first by myself, then by my editor, who wisely recommended the removal of one line.
We Two, Together
We won’t
Have much time
Together
But in that brief moment
Of connection
I will gaze upon you
With such intensity
As to drink up oceans
My lust
Will smother the sun
My desire
Shake the earth
I will give you my everything
Simultaneously taking
All
Of you
A fair exchange
Of passion
And pleasure
Mirrors, to one another’s soul
Journals, of one another’s heart
Clothing, for one another’s bodies
We two
Together
In this moment
Will become
One
In every conceivable way
Originally I had the poem reading:
‘A fair exchange
Of passion
Perversion
And pleasure’
My editor suggested that I remove the word perversion. I agreed, immediately recognising that the energy of that word doesn’t at all fit with the rest of the poem. So why was it there first place? Well, most of the poetry I write is introspective, brooding, an expression of my inner world, or feeling about the world at large. But I also write erotica, both poetry and fiction. I thought whilst writing, that this piece would fit into that space, but upon completion, it didn’t. The word ‘perversion’ was a remnant of that mind state and thus to make the poem more complete it needed to be removed.
Time away from a piece and the assistance of an editor can significantly improve your work.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to separate Writer-You from Editor-You, invariably if you are trying to write with the editing in mind, you will be stifled. If you are worried about what people will think, or how it will end up, or any number of other non-writing thoughts, your poetry will suffer.
Creativity is like a river - it will flow best when it is unimpeded by rocks, dams, and other debris. Some obstruction is unavoidable and fine, but too much can cause catastrophe. Your job, at least initially, is to do everything in your power to get out of your own way. To silence the inner critic (or at least let that part of you know that it will get a chance to speak later), and simply write.
In Those Few Words I attempt to capture a lifetime of feeling an undercurrent of disdain and judgement emanating from a certain person in my life. It took thousands of words and countless iterations to settle on the poem you will read below. The entire time my inner critic was screaming at me to stop. Telling me that I would be judged. That these poems would get back to that person and that they would cause more unnecessary drama in my life. But instead of stopping, I acknowledged the warnings of those voices and returned to my writing. A lot of words flowed from me that day, and I received a lot of healing because of it. I won’t ever share half of what I initially wrote, because those warnings were right – it would be offensive and inconsiderate to share. But because I persisted, I was able to finally get to, and share Those Few Words.
Those Few Words
Those few words
Gave voice
To the silence
I always knew
Was there
Summary
When writing, just write. Put aside all thoughts of editing, reader opinion, or even the overall ‘point’ of the piece. Just get the words on the page and deal with the greater implications of doing so later on.
This chapter is from the book How To Write Evocative Poetry
