Mama Dont Allow No Fighting in Your Writing

When you sit down to write a steamy romance, a spine-tingling horror story, or an action-packed adventure, lock the door. The last thing you need is your mother, father, coach, English teacher or pastor reading over your shoulder and giving you advice.

While mom, dad, coach, Mrs. Smith and Reverend Jones all enjoy a good story, they don't want action-packed, spine-tingling or steamy words flowing out of your pen or your word processor

What would your mother say if she saw you write, "Bob chopped off Bill's ear with a rusty axe"? What would your English teacher say if she saw you write, "Janice discovered to her horror that reading Faulkner backwards called demons into the school library." And, heaven help you, what would your pastor say if he saw you write, "When Arnold reached inside Amy's blouse, she said, 'surely you can reach farther than that'"?

With a little luck, mom, dad, coach, Mrs. Smith and Reverend Jones won't be physically in the room saying "tsk tsk" every time you mention rusty axes, demons, and blouses. However, if you write as though they are there, then they might as well be there.

In fact, if you worry about what any traditional authority figure in your life is going to say when s/he reads what you've written, you'll never write it. The judgmental editor(s) inside your head will be so strong, your writing won't get out of the blocks because you'll be forever stuck between what you want to say and what you think you're allowed to say.

Frankly, some writers will never get the critical voices out of their heads and write anything worth reading until the people they represent are all in prison, committed to psychiatric wards, or dead. But most of us don't want to wait that long.

As your career progresses, you'll ultimately come to the point where you live and breathe novelist Leon Uris' words: "There are two weapons in the writer's arsenal. The first is stamina and the second is uncompromising belief in yourself."

Until you reach that point, here are a few ideas for banishing mom, dad, coach, the English teacher and the reverend from your mind while writing:

**Whether you write in a den or a spare corner in the kitchen or family room, design a rich, inspiring, and professional space. You are a professional writer doing professional work, not a child in need of any authority figure's supervision. Some writers go a step farther and physically lock the door (if there is a door) and/or visualize their writing spaces surrounded by a force fields that repel unwanted intrusions like, "I don't want you writing nothing naughty, you hear?"

**Resist the urge to tinker and pick at your work while writing the first draft. Tinkering stalls the creative process and allows those unwanted internal editors time to say, "No child of mine ought to be thinking about blood-spattered sheets."

**Experiment with "free writing," the process of writing at full-speed (as fast as you can type or move a pen) for 20 minutes, 45 minutes, or an hour without stopping or thinking for even a moment. In this unrestrained creative rush, there's no time or space for discouraging words such as, "You're not going to push that sweet woman off the roof are you?"

**Take the risk and pretend you are each of the characters you're writing about as though you're playing roles in a movie. This technique will not only help you get to know your characters and make them more real, but it might just keep those internal editors out of your face. Once you become transform yourself into a villain or a hero running down a dark alley with a knife, those voices will be much to frightened of you to say, "don't run with sharp objects, dear."

**Confront the authority figures inside your head directly. When one of them interrupts your work with "Mama don't allow nothin' gory in your story" or "Daddy can't abide nothin' stronger than 'heck' or 'darn' in your yarn," stop writing and shout, "Get the #@#* out of my space." Some writers draw faces on sheets of paper and tape them to pillows. Then, the next time they hear a discouraging word about the word they just wrote, they can shout at the pillow, while kicking and punching it as needed. (Don't tape the picture of a real person on the pillow without consulting a counselor!)

Internal editors-when they sneak into your mind under the guise of a mother, father, coach, teacher, or minister who claims s/he is "just trying to help"-will try to sabotage your work before it sees the light of day, before it embarrasses the family, before it sullies their values, before it causes black marks to be inscribed on your permanent record.

In time, perhaps, the people in your life who matter will understand that the steam in the romance, the scream in the horror story, and the mangled corpse in the adventure are not the real you. Perhaps they already know that, but you don't yet believe it and have been creating two fictions every time you sit down at your desk. One of these is the story you're writing and the other is the equally fictional story your living inside your head filled with mothers, fathers, coaches, ministers, wives, husbands, sons, daughters and teachers who are forever criticizing your work before it's half-way done.

You can speculate until the ink in your pen dries up whether injunctions like "Mama don't allow no fighting in my writing" have anything to do with real authority figures or represent your own concerns about what you ought to write and how you ought to write it. Either way, an important part of every writer's on-the-job training is learning which technique will silence any internal editor with the gall to say, "I don't want no crooks in your books" or "There better not be anything risqu? in what you have to say."

The author of the mythic new age adventure novel "The Sun Singer," Malcolm R. Campbell provides manucript critiques and editing assistance at http://www.campbelleditorial.com

Wood Dale Chicago prom limo .. Lockport Chicago limo O’Hare
In The News:

Fueled by artificial intelligence, CyberDog the robotic dog is designed specifically locate fire ant nests, which are endangering ecosystems.
Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents
Internet browsers are useful, but they can be dangerous. Clicking on malicious links can direct you to dangerous websites that steal information or infect your device.
Apple's latest iOS update introduces advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, which may be capturing and analyzing sensitive information.
Breach site confirmed 56,904,909 Hot Topic users' data leaked online. Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says the company's silence makes matters even worse.
Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson discusses how an innovative Easy-Way kit turns standard strollers electric, simplifying navigation for parents.
Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson talks about T-Mobile being hacked in broad cyberattack on global phone and internet companies.
Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson shows you how to add, customize and manage widgets for quick access to apps and info from your iPhone home screen.
Wrong Google searches can not only compromise your device and personal data. They can also bring law enforcement to your doorstep. Hackers are targeting Google searches.
China's Shanghai Kepler Robotics has developed a new humanoid robot that can carry up to 35 pounds per hand for commercial applications across various industries
Checking your hearing has gotten easier with the new hearing test feature in AirPods Pro 2. You can take reliable hearing tests using your iPhone or iPad.
Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.
Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson explains how a VPN — virtual private network — works and how running it can slow down the operation of your device.
The WalkON Suit F1, an exoskeleton developed to help people with disabilities, can actually walk over to a person in a wheelchair, solving a major problem.
ClickFix, a new scam targeting computer users, is on the rise in the U.S. The scam prompts its targets to click on a link to fix a problem.
Skydweller is the world's largest unmanned solar-powered aircraft that can stay airborne for weeks, and even months, without refueling.
The U.S. government said it is investigating after People's Republic of China hackers targeted commercial telecommunications service providers in the U.S.
Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.
Scammers are using increasingly sophisticated ways to lure unsuspecting victims, and some are impersonating an email help desk or support team.
You can unsend or edit your iMessages with the latest iOS updates. Kurt the CyberGuy explains how you can save yourself some potential embarrassment.
Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson says there’s been a rise in cybercriminal services using hacked police and government emails to send subpoenas and data requests to U.S. companies.
Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson discusses how Axiom Space and luxury designer Prada are collaborating on NASA's Artemis III spacesuit design.
Voice assistants may cause confusion across devices. Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson offers some solutions to fix it.
Shameless scammers trick veterans into giving personal info or cash. Tech expert Kurt “CyberGuy" Knutsson explores five common scams.

Creative Writing

Do you consider yourself a storyteller? Do you consider yourself... Read More

7 Journaling Tips

Set your journal or diary where you will see it... Read More

Pairs/Groups Of Words Often Confused - Part 4 of 6

LATER, LATTERLater means afterwards; latter is the second of two... Read More

The Author Within

Just about every marketer on the Internet claims to be... Read More

Suspense Novels Need Fast Starts

Suspense novels, unlike any other genre, need fast starts. Fans... Read More

A Series of Articles on Autobiography

ESSAYS ON AUTOBIOGRAPHY: NUMBER 1Preamble:Nearly seven years ago I wrote... Read More

Become the Writer You Always Dreamed of Being

So you want to be a writer, except you don't... Read More

Writers Who Consistently Cut The Mustard Do So Because...

Have you ever wondered why certain writers are able to... Read More

Imagine The Imagination

Imagine a three hundred page book was in the author's... Read More

Crime Writing Beckons

If your cash is running out fast and you have... Read More

Gut Check: Quitting Your Full-time Job for Your Freelance Career

It's 6:00 p.m. You're dead tired, but instead of an... Read More

Pages: Your Book of Life

Many of us dream of writing a book. Why not.... Read More

Self-Examination

Self-examination sheds light on a writers motives, goals, and aspirations,... Read More

Hey Cient, this is Me! Find Your Writing Voice and Sell Yourself

In a crowded market, clients will be seeking personality as... Read More

Writing Query Letters that Count -- Close the Deal with Your First Letter!

Your query letter can be a deal maker or a... Read More

Writing Secrets You Must Know

Writing better is critical for students. But it's even more... Read More

Writing For Free: When & When Not to Do It!

Right off the bat, I want to say that there... Read More

Power Writing 101: Tips and Tricks to Get You Taken Seriously!

In my ten years as an advertiser, I've encountered plenty... Read More

Ways to Make Extra Income Using the Internet

To capitalize on ways to make extra income you can... Read More

The Iniquitous Slip

All the famous writers I heard of could paper the... Read More

Have You Tested Your Plot?

Creative Writing Tips ?Our plotting stage is our testing area.Everything... Read More

Seven Important Lessons for Experts Who Want to Get Published

At first, I noticed that I could have written many... Read More

Pairs/Groups Of Words Often Confused - Part 5 of 6

PASSED, PASTPassed is the past tense of pass. Past means... Read More

Letter Writing Journaling

When you read a letter from someone, we are immediately... Read More

A Perfect Day for Writers

In one of the exercises in my "Getting Started as... Read More

Antigo wedding limo ..