Aggressive Inner Editor?

I know that I've asked for help before because of my inability to finish stories.

But this time, I know what the problem is: my inner editor.

You see, I have this tendency to go back over everything I've written the day before - and when I do read it, I think: Ick. Unacceptable. Then I press ctrl+a and backspace, effectively bringing me back to the very start of the story.

So how exactly do you turn this inner editor off?

By ignoring it! ^_^

That's the beauty of NaNoWriMo. With only a month to write a whole novel, you can't afford to read what you just wrote. It's loverly. ^^

I still get stuck with my inner editor taking over, but I figured out what also helps me. An outline.

Before I write any story at all, I write an outline of the story from beginning to end. That way, I know what will happen next, and it's easier to keep writing. 'Cause honestly, why would your inner editor even bother coming out if you're writing what's on your mind? If you knew what happens next, you'll keep writing; but if you stop to think what should happen next, your eyes will travel to the previous paragraphs and your editor pops in and deletes what you wrote.

This is what NaNoWriMo is all about. Writing non-stop. They know that if the writer stops writing to think about what happens next, what better way to use the time than to edit what you wrote? And then after editing so much, you get sick of writing and just walk away. Don't do that! Keep writing.

Keep writing.

Even if you know it's terrible, you have to keep going. Take the time to edit later. And that's the glory of an outline. You can get the basic plot stuff down before you go back and fix the plotholes.

If you notice yourself editing your story instead of writing it, step away from the novel. By the sounds of it, you're never content with what you've written. Get your story on paper before you make any red marks, otherwise you will keep changing what you've written to the point where you have an entirely new novel. And really, sometimes you don't need to change five pages worth of words but five paragraphs. Or just a simple grammar edit. It depends where it fits in the story, and if you don't know what happens next, how will you know what you've written is good or bad?

[/end nonsense jabbering]

Sometimes the inner editor is a good thing, but I won't go into that. Someone else can. ^^ Hopefully I made some sense up there, but if I didn't, feel free to PM me or reply here. Or just, you know, ignore it. Whatever works. Just remember: Keep writing. Don't stop. ^_~

Keep writing!

Jabber, the One and Only!

I had a majorly bad case of my inner editor attacking me. It got to the point I was rewriting my story after five pages into it.

What I did was I created a new document for all the changes I wanted to make in the novel. That way, I have a note of what should have happened, but I haven't actually changed what happens. This saves me a lot of time and was given to me by a NaNoWriMoer, so it is done. ^^ This also ties into Jabber's tip: keep writing. By making a note you're telling yourself it will get changed, and you have it in your head what you're building off of. Works very well.

I also took a step back and looked at my MC. It turns out she wanted her story done in first person, which made a huge change in how I wrote it and how much I liked it. Maybe take a step back at what you're writing, and see if some basic changes like that would help.

Hope this helps!

~Rosey