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Criticism ranks pretty highly on any author's list of anxieties, but what's a writer to do when she finds that her loudest and most persistent critic is actually herself?Criticism ranks pretty highly on any author's list of anxieties, but what's a writer to do when she finds that her loudest and most persistent critic is actually herself? Kristin Walker --- author of the debut novel, A MATCH MADE IN HIGH SCHOOL --- relies on her own personal experience to provide some advice on how to deal with being your own worst enemy.


The first few years of my writing career were done in secret. My husband knew, but nobody else did. Not even my mother. I was terrified of the inevitable questions about How It Was Going. Especially since I knew that, most likely, publication would come only after about a decade’s-worth of rejections (and it did). Obviously, I didn’t want anyone to know about them. This survival instinct was later confirmed by Carolyn See in her book, MAKING A LITERARY LIFE (Random House, 2002). “Keep it to yourself. Be discreet. Be secretive,” she said. “People don’t have to know about it until you’re confident and ready.”

When I finally did tell my mother, one of the things she commented on was my unfortunate habit of picking careers that involved so much rejection. She was referring to my former life as an actor. I had been a theatre major in college, and had worked for a couple of years in a resident theatre company.

But I think acting actually trained me for publishing. Auditions were like self-esteem boot camp. They taught me how to take a kick in the teeth, and keep smiling through it. Okay, maybe not smiling, but at least with my dignity intact. So now, when I get a rejection on one of my writing submissions, I know how to get past it. I’ve learned not to dwell. I take what I can from it, and then file it and move on. Of course, the fact that submission rejections arrive in my living room makes a huge difference. If I do throw a little fit, no one has to know but the dog.

But to be honest, the biggest negative influence on my writing doesn’t come from rejections, or even from my mother (just kidding, Mom). It doesn’t come from outside at all. It comes from within me. As a writer, the thing I struggle with the most is my inner critic.

In case you’re not familiar, the inner critic is that smarmy voice in your head that says your work stinks and you’re a total fake, and why are you wasting your family’s time with this whole writing thing, anyway? Your inner critic says things like, “That idea is so stupid!” Or, “Anyone with half a brain is going to see that dull ending coming from a mile away.” Or, “Ohmigod, are you seriously trying to use symbolism, you idiot? Ha! Yeah, good luck with that.”

Cracking the whip on the inner critic can be like trying to stand an eel on end, but it’s essential for a writer to do. I have a few strategies. Sometimes I confront her head-on, like with any other bully, and tell her to shut up. Sometimes I ignore her and let her rant and rave until she finally gets tired and moves on to other topics, like my expanding waistline and deplorable housekeeping skills. Believe it or not, though, sometimes I listen to her. Because every once in a while, she has a bit of a point. She shines a dim light on an area in my manuscript that needs improvement. But for the most part, my inner critic’s main purpose is to derail my work. I don’t know why. She’s just a jerk, I guess. If you write, then yours probably is, too.

So don’t hesitate to tell your inner critic to shut her big fat mouth. Don’t be afraid to fail out loud. Don’t be afraid to write garbage at first. Let your writing take its own course. Don’t limit it. Because that liberation leads to your best work. It may not be clear in the first draft, or the fifth. But if you listen to your inner critic’s lies, then the heart of your story may never even make it out of your imagination, let alone onto the page, where it belongs.

-- Kristin Walker