Saturday, May 18, 2013

Don't be so critical

I think it's just an artist thing, but we tend to be really hard on ourselves. And truly, I think there's enough people in the world who are waiting to do that for us. So if there's one person who we should feel safe around, it's ourselves. It's what puts writers into writers block, for fear of writing crap. But if we don't get it on the page, we'll never get that moment to write something brilliant. I've definitely seen friends who have stalled at writing anything, because they've listened to that inner critic and given it too much power. I've told them all, just get it on the page!

I think for me, reading The Artist's Way has really helped. I read it years ago. But the author makes you write daily pages without reading what you write. But the good thing about that is you get in the practice to just get something on the page without being critical about it. I've taken that practice and use that with my screenplays. So I'm always writing. Always getting something on the page. I don't worry if it's any good. If it's on the page, you can at least get it to be good. If you keep it in your head, then you have nothing to work with. But once it's on the page, you've got a start. And a start can turn into a finished product.

I've even noticed with my 9-year-old son who's an artist. And he'll be so critical of his work. I try to teach him the same thing. Just get it on the page. Once it's there, you can redraw, learn knew techniques, eventually get better and better and better. I think he's listening to me. But seeing my critical self in my child definitely reminds me how harsh we artists can be. And it's such a detriment. So the next time you're hard on your writing treat yourself how I treat my child, with love and compassion and encouragement. If artists aren't creating, the world will truly suffer for it.

No comments:

Post a Comment