Critical Thinking

I noticed years ago that when I was reading a book and I found certain things the author was doing annoying, the next time I sat down to write and reread what I’d written the day before, it seemed I too was guilty of whatever sin I deemed that other writer had committed. If his stuff was overwritten, then mine was overwritten; if his was boring, mine was boring. I could absolutely count on this, and I noticed it often enough that I eventually had to stop criticizing others completely.

Or at least I tried to. There were still lots of stories I came across that I didn’t like, and old habits do in fact die hard. Criticism might be the oldest habit known to man. There’s a kind of logic to it. If you don’t point out what’s wrong, no one will know, and nothing will ever get better. We all want things to get better. And things could definitely be better – on that there is much agreement. Overwhelming agreement, I’d say. Indeed, there is so much agreement on this point, it’s a little surprising how much time we spend reminding other people of their errors. Other people sure can screw things up. It’s why things don’t get better.

Such is the circular thinking to which all criticism is prone. It leaves me feeling uncreative and unfriendly, and so, as a matter of self-preservation, I continue to do my best to avoid it. Plus, I heard once that anything I think about another person I think about myself. This was just troubling enough, given all the rotten stuff I’d thought about friends and strangers, that I knew it had to be true. As a writer, it’s useful to remember. I write my stories alone at my desk, alone with my thoughts and desires, alone so I can hear what wants to be said.

But all the while I’m alone and writing, I very much want to share these stories when they’re done. I can’t share them with anyone wholly unlike me, people who would never understand me and would only disagree with me. Fortunately, there is something in me that’s in everyone. It’s the very thing that makes criticism so uncomfortable and argument so fruitless. Unless I listen to it, write to it and for it, I will always be in disagreement with myself, no matter how right I think I am.

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Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt
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