This is a tool to use when there are voices in your head getting in the way of you getting your writing done. It takes just a minute or two and can be very effective.
1. Notice Pause and ask yourself, what are the voices in my head saying to me right now, the unhelpful ones?
2. Quote On a small piece of paper or an index card (it needs to be blank on both sides), write down one sentence that gets at the heart of the unhelpful message. It might be ‘you’ll never finish this” or “this is rubbish” or “who do you think you are?’
3. Name If it comes easily, name the voice that is saying this to you. Could be someone you know, could be a made-up name, could be a noun like The Buzzkill or The Careerist or The Voice of Doom. Write this down too.
4. Respond Gently and firmly, turn the card over. Respond to what you’ve written on the flip side from a place of wisdom and compassion. What needs to be said? What does this unhelpful voice, this saboteur, need to understand? There’s no need to make anything up, just to state a truth that the saboteur is overlooking. It might be ‘I will finish this, in my own time, as I am able’ or ‘this is just a first draft, and first drafts are meant to be ugly’ or ‘I am a person doing my best.’
When you have more time, then try this longer tool for befriending and retraining saboteurs. It gives you the chance to understand the beliefs and assumptions your saboteur is operating under, and to teach it what it needs to know to in order to do a better job supporting you. Strangely enough, saboteurs are more often than not voices that think they are helping you, like misguided guardian angels. Some time spent re-educating them can work wonders.