{"id":38670,"date":"2017-04-27T12:16:55","date_gmt":"2017-04-27T19:16:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=38670"},"modified":"2017-04-27T12:16:55","modified_gmt":"2017-04-27T19:16:55","slug":"tame-inner-writing-demon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/tame-inner-writing-demon\/","title":{"rendered":"Tame your inner writing demon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"demon01\"<\/a>We all have writing demons. They go by various names \u2013 imposters, internal critics, inner editors, blockages, procrastinations \u2026 they are nasty and stop you writing. Mostly you wish they\u2019d go away and just leave you be. But I\u2019m here to tell you that you don\u2019t want to get rid of these demons entirely. You don\u2019t want to slay then and rid yourself of them forever. Well, probably not. They\u00a0can actually be useful, you see, at the right time and in the right places.<\/p>\n

The imposter demon stops you being cocky and making over-claims. The internal critic offers you a way to evaluate your writing, the first step in thinking how to change it. The inner editor focuses you on textual features that need attention. Writing\u00a0blockages can help you to rethink to see if your warrant, argument, evidence, angle aren\u2019t suitable for the task. Procrastination can create some helpful re-thinking time and space.<\/p>\n

Because\u00a0the demons can be useful, in their place, it can be helpful to think about what they actually are and what they are \u2018saying\u2019 to you. It can be good to consider when and how your demon might be a\u00a0benefit, rather than a barrier to your writing.<\/p>\n

Health warning. Playful strategy ahead.<\/p>\n

This is a small, somewhat silly exercise I sometimes do in workshops if participants are having a really hard time getting their writing demons under control. You do<\/i> have to be in the right frame of mind to do it, and I understand that some people will find this activity pretty odd\/naff\/stupid. (However, the exercise\u00a0does have an actual therapeutic basis \u2013\u00a0re-narrativisation.) It\u2019s not\u00a0a completely bad\u00a0thing to do in a group where you can all have a laugh together about the demons you share \u2013 and the smart remarks you make to them. But if you\u2019re not in the mood for a bit of play stop HERE, NOW.<\/p>\n

First of all, imagine your demon. If there is more than one, just pick the one that appears most often.<\/p>\n

Now give it some kind of shape \u2013 human, animal, fantastic, surreal, whatever fits the feelings it creates \u2026 You might like to draw it, or find a picture of something that fits and stick it on a paper or digital slide.<\/p>\n

Now imagine your demon speaking to you. Write down what it says \u2013 if you are working with a picture use a speech bubble\u2026<\/p>\n

The next step is to put yourself into the picture. Imagine that you are speaking back to your demon. You may want to just vent for a moment. But then \u2013<\/p>\n

Answer back. What is unhelpful about the demon\u2019s statement? Say it as rudely, sneakily, cleverly as you can.<\/p>\n

And now \u2013<\/p>\n

Answer back again. This time\u2026 Reframe what the demon is saying \u2026 what is it about the demon\u2019s comments that might be helpful? How? And when? Stay where you are inner editor until I ask you to come and help with\u2026 you get the idea. Tell the demon when you will\u00a0let them spring into action.<\/p>\n

And there you have it. Writing demon. Tamed. Put in its place. Back in its box.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all have writing demons. They go by various names \u2013 imposters, internal critics, inner editors, blockages, procrastinations \u2026 they are nasty and stop you writing. Mostly you wish they\u2019d go away and just leave you be. But I\u2019m here to tell you that you don\u2019t want to get rid of these demons entirely. You […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":38671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[65962],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-38670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-higher-education","tag-writing-demon"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTame your inner writing demon - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/tame-inner-writing-demon\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tame your inner writing demon - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We all have writing demons. They go by various names \u2013 imposters, internal critics, inner editors, blockages, procrastinations \u2026 they are nasty and stop you writing. Mostly you wish they\u2019d go away and just leave you be. But I\u2019m here to tell you that you don\u2019t want to get rid of these demons entirely. 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