In The Demon’s Head #236: Self Editor and Inner Killers
August 24, 2015
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of In The Demon’s Head. I hope that this post finds you in a good place as you finish your first work day this week. Today’s post is about a month or so in the making. Let’s start with a little background in how I came up with this idea.
August 24, 2015
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of In The Demon’s Head. I hope that this post finds you in a good place as you finish your first work day this week. Today’s post is about a month or so in the making. Let’s start with a little background in how I came up with this idea.
New job, New Faces
About two months ago I started a new job which means that I get to interact with new co-workers. One of those co-workers is not only my boss but a fellow writer. As time went on we started to discuss writing, and the process behind it. How everything worked, and how we went about our respective task of writing while living the lives we do.
A few days after the initial discussion, he disclosed to me that he’d started working on a novel but he’d actually erased and restarted it a few dozen times. I asked him why in the world he’d restarted his novel so many times. As you can probably guess by the title of this post. It was because every time he saw what he’d written, his inner editor tried to tell him that it wasn’t good enough. So he erased it.
How Could You Destroy…
I asked him how he’d continually erased everything because in my head it seemed like a massive waste. He explained it to me like this. He said that in his head nothing seemed good enough so he’d get rid of it all. He’d restart and he’d sort of like it so he’d make it further, and then the process would restart.
I started to think about it. What was it that would make you tick to the point that you would destroy hard work versus just putting it aside for another day. The more I thought about it, the more I honestly thought that it was crazy No matter how hard I tried to wrap my head around it I could get it.
This Post is Born
So after a while I sat there and contemplated everything and decided that I was going to try and write about it in this blog.
I’ll be honest I may not be the most qualified person to write about it but fuck it. Here’s my theory and if you’re a writer just starting out, then I BEG that you do this, it was something that I read a while ago and wish I’d known from the very beginning when I started writing poetry some 7-8 years ago.
Keep everything.
I don’t care if it’s on a flash drive, I don’t care if it’s in a folder, or in a trunk. I don’t care if it’s a notebook that houses all of your ideas. (Mine is a cheap ass composition notebook from Dollar General for like 50 cents. I have 6 of those fuckers.) Whatever your chosen method of storage is, don’t let the ideas and your hard work shy away and disappear.
If you do that you’re going to regret it.
Final Thoughts
A writing career isn’t a sprint. Fuck me if it’s not a marathon that’s derived at pushing you to the limits of your own imagination and scaring the ever living shit out of you. At least in my world that’s what happens.
So, I make sure that I try and keep everything so that eventually, even if for some reason it doesn’t see the light of day then I can work on it later. Every word I write, even in the pages of this blog, make me a better writer and help me take a step forward at capturing my dream.
There are a few writers that read this blog. I want you share your thoughts on the process of inner editors, and self doubt. I’d love to read what you have to say.
Until the next time you want to take a trip through the gates of hell and into the demon’s head, I’m Kyle Robinson wishing you a safe trip back to the surface.
Be sure to join me on Facebook by clicking here. If you like what I’m doing in this blog sign up for my mailing list and make sure that it’s delivered to your inbox every time a fresh one drops. Last, as I expand the blog I’d love topics for post. Feel free to share those, or any other thoughts via email by clicking here.
About two months ago I started a new job which means that I get to interact with new co-workers. One of those co-workers is not only my boss but a fellow writer. As time went on we started to discuss writing, and the process behind it. How everything worked, and how we went about our respective task of writing while living the lives we do.
A few days after the initial discussion, he disclosed to me that he’d started working on a novel but he’d actually erased and restarted it a few dozen times. I asked him why in the world he’d restarted his novel so many times. As you can probably guess by the title of this post. It was because every time he saw what he’d written, his inner editor tried to tell him that it wasn’t good enough. So he erased it.
How Could You Destroy…
I asked him how he’d continually erased everything because in my head it seemed like a massive waste. He explained it to me like this. He said that in his head nothing seemed good enough so he’d get rid of it all. He’d restart and he’d sort of like it so he’d make it further, and then the process would restart.
I started to think about it. What was it that would make you tick to the point that you would destroy hard work versus just putting it aside for another day. The more I thought about it, the more I honestly thought that it was crazy No matter how hard I tried to wrap my head around it I could get it.
This Post is Born
So after a while I sat there and contemplated everything and decided that I was going to try and write about it in this blog.
I’ll be honest I may not be the most qualified person to write about it but fuck it. Here’s my theory and if you’re a writer just starting out, then I BEG that you do this, it was something that I read a while ago and wish I’d known from the very beginning when I started writing poetry some 7-8 years ago.
Keep everything.
I don’t care if it’s on a flash drive, I don’t care if it’s in a folder, or in a trunk. I don’t care if it’s a notebook that houses all of your ideas. (Mine is a cheap ass composition notebook from Dollar General for like 50 cents. I have 6 of those fuckers.) Whatever your chosen method of storage is, don’t let the ideas and your hard work shy away and disappear.
If you do that you’re going to regret it.
Final Thoughts
A writing career isn’t a sprint. Fuck me if it’s not a marathon that’s derived at pushing you to the limits of your own imagination and scaring the ever living shit out of you. At least in my world that’s what happens.
So, I make sure that I try and keep everything so that eventually, even if for some reason it doesn’t see the light of day then I can work on it later. Every word I write, even in the pages of this blog, make me a better writer and help me take a step forward at capturing my dream.
There are a few writers that read this blog. I want you share your thoughts on the process of inner editors, and self doubt. I’d love to read what you have to say.
Until the next time you want to take a trip through the gates of hell and into the demon’s head, I’m Kyle Robinson wishing you a safe trip back to the surface.
Be sure to join me on Facebook by clicking here. If you like what I’m doing in this blog sign up for my mailing list and make sure that it’s delivered to your inbox every time a fresh one drops. Last, as I expand the blog I’d love topics for post. Feel free to share those, or any other thoughts via email by clicking here.