Jack Handey Would Approve

At the beginning of the semester, I had my students read a short article by Allegra Goodman called “Calming the Inner Critic and Getting to Work” (New York Times: March 12, 2001). In it, Goodman discusses her own experiences with quieting the critic within and just letting herself write. Though the inner critic may have useful insights at times, she writes, it is important to learn when to ignore it:

“Sometimes insightful, always acute, the inner critic can become your closest literary friend, the one who tells you the truth, the one who makes you laugh at yourself and punctures your delusions. This is all to the good. The danger is in identifying so much with your inner critic that you enjoy self-deprecation more than your work itself. Writer, beware! The inner critic is insidious, subversive, always available for depressive episodes. Stay alert. Know the enemy. Know yourself.”

I think this is excellent advice, and my students have told me that it is one of the most useful things I’ve had them read all semester. When we first discussed it, many of my students said that it made them much less critical of themselves to know that even professional writers go through the same negative thought processes that they do when they write. I felt the same way when I read it, which is why I gave it to them to read.

Now, as I read Chapter 14 in the Boice book, I realize that I’ve been ignoring Goodman’s (and my own) advice. When I finish typing this, I plan to start on a similar assignment for my critical theory class that I absolutely don’t feel qualified to write. Actually, in writing this, I’m kind of procrastinating, since the theory paper is due first. But I will write it, and I will write it well, dammit. Happy thoughts. I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and other such things.