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| Via Wikimedia Commons (Author Unknown) |
As a matter of fact, your chatterbox is often your friend once you've harnessed her. S/he can give you great ideas, can make you polish and commit, and she'll certainly push you to perfect your craft. That said, your chatterbox can get out of control, especially when you're stressed, lost, intimidated.
And the most important thing for many of us is to keep on going.
It's particularly hard to switch the chatterbox off when you aren't yet published, or haven't yet sold your work, or...the list goes on. The sense of "not being there yet" can certainly mess with our confidence. So here's a true story that I tell my writing clients to help them quieten the chatterbox within:
One thing I learned from being a literary magazine editor was that many aspects of writing are extremely subjective. Once, when I was sitting on a finalist panel with a dozen highly talented editors, we looked at a story that had been longlisted for an impressive award. Apart from the editor who had selected the piece, the rest of us didn't rate this story highly. We said there was too much telling, not enough showing. We said that we wanted more scene, more complexity of emotion. In the end, the Senior Editors agreed and rejected the piece.
Two months later, I was online, when I saw that the very same story had won third place in a writing contest at an equally well-established magazine.
It's true! Just because an editor doesn't like your work, doesn't mean that another editor won't. And just because your chatterbox doesn't like your work, doesn't mean that other readers won't.
Read that again, if you need to. And maybe even again.
Your chatterbox wants you to think that her way is the only way. Or perhaps she (or he or ze) wants you to think that there is no right way. But you mustn't let your chatterbox take you over. Don't let her put you off. Instead, thank her for her input. Tell her, "I'm taking note of your points," and write them down, keep hold of them. But you don't have to fret about these points now -- they may or may not be valid later on, when you get to the editing process, and you can always ask a reviewer to help you toss the turnips and keep the pearls.
The important thing is to keep on writing or designing or rehearsing...or whatever it is that the universe needs you to do.
When it's time to think more critically about your work, you might ask your chatterbox to step forward again by taking out her list of points and giving them a read. Plus you can also ask any trusted readers to give their own opinion of your work.
Ask these readers to include what is working well as well as their criticisms. And in a future post, we'll start training your chatterbox to do exactly the same!
Bottom line? Don't let the chatterbox sink your ship. Help her to steer you to the final port of call, and enjoy those peaceful waters.
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Thanks for visiting "Whole Arts Coaching," where Lana offers writing, arts, and confidence coaching on a per hour (or per minute!) basis!
