With the New Year comes a chance to reset our intentions and our goals. Perhaps a chance to admit we don’t like to write, or we are afraid to because we still see those red streaks English teachers slashed on our papers years ago. At one Christmas party, I had a young college writer ask me, “How do I stop that inner voice that keeps channeling my writing teacher? The voice
that seems to whisper, ‘You simply cannot write!’”

“With all respect to English teachers, and I was one for over thirty years,” I answered, “you try to learn from the marks but erase the memory of them. And more important,” I added, “please fire your ‘Inner Critic’ immediately!” We all have an Inner Critic who lurks in the recesses of our minds and tries to sow havoc and discord. I suggest watching today’s news if you want your fill
of discord and havoc. But if you want to write, send your Inner Critic packing. Tell him you have a story that must be told, and that he can return another day to help with editing.

Most of us have a story that needs to be shared. Eighty-one percent of us believe we have a book inside of us. The reality is you probably won’t write if you allow the Grammar Nazis and the Inner Critics to interfere. These fears can paralyze the writing process. Please don’t let this happen!

To write is to accept that we have a voice and in our early efforts that voice may sound garbled or confused. It should — we are busy finding it. It is rewriting and polishing our words that makes for good writing. Author Pam Houston once told me she drafts a piece about eighty times before it goes out. I don’t do nearly that many drafts, but I love watching my writing evolve as I work on it. So I hope in the new year you will set aside time to find your words. To explore you. I believe you will reap the rewards.