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Wednesday, February 4, 2015

IWSG: Using Imagination to Tame Insecurities

It's that time again: time to share our insecurities, our ways of beating back our fears, or some encouragement! Many thanks to Alex J. Cavnaugh and his awesome team of co-hosts for the IWSG blog hop and website!

When my inner editor starts getting to me through painful insecurity, I start to imagine that she has taken on an appearance of monstrous proportions. When I put all those insecurities into an imaginary persona, I can tame them, lock them up if needed, and get back to writing.

Here are three images I came up with for my inner editor last month:

On a bad day, my inner editor took on the appearance of an eight foot monster with orange skin, three foot fangs, messy green hair, and breath that stank like rotten gym socks. She carried a large club to smash through my entire draft.

On a horribly bad day, my inner editor took on an ultra-professional appearance with supermodel good looks, perfect hair and skin, and small fangs emerging over her blood-red lips. She stalked all over my laptop dressed in a red suit and three inch heels.

On a good day, my inner editor looked like a friendly librarian, showing me the books I needed to make corrections, quietly pointing out my typos, and giving me a pat on the back when I noticed my mistakes before sending them into the world via e-mail, facebook post, or tweet.


Have you ever used your imagination to tame your insecurities? What does your inner editor look like? 
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43 comments:

  1. Alex J. CavanaughFebruary 4, 2015 at 6:02 AM

    I think I will imagine mine is a cockroach and squash it.

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  2. Rachel SchieffelbeinFebruary 4, 2015 at 6:03 AM

    Lol! I love it! I'll have to try this. :)

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  3. Julie FlandersFebruary 4, 2015 at 6:31 AM

    What a great idea! And since I'm a librarian, and a hope a friendly one, I like your good day choice. :)

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  4. Madeline Mora-SummonteFebruary 4, 2015 at 6:59 AM

    Good idea! Fun images, too. :)

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  5. randi leeFebruary 4, 2015 at 7:37 AM

    What an excellent idea! I'm going to imagine sticking my insecurities in a box and crushing said box under my foot :)

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  6. cleemckenzieFebruary 4, 2015 at 7:58 AM

    Oh yes. We have twin inner editors.

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    Replies
    1. Tyrean MartinsonFebruary 4, 2015 at 11:29 AM

      The tall, smelly one, or the three-inch heel one? :)

      Delete
  7. Natalie AguirreFebruary 4, 2015 at 8:35 AM

    I can see your editors. Love the librarian.

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  8. SK AnthonyFebruary 4, 2015 at 9:32 AM

    I didn't realize I was harassing you that day! (your supermodel inner editor, that was me :P) I love this idea, fun, and helpful ;)

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  9. L. Diane WolfeFebruary 4, 2015 at 9:40 AM

    I'm going to imagine my good editor is Hammy the Squirrel, zipping through the manuscript with ease.

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  10. Nick WilfordFebruary 4, 2015 at 10:31 AM

    Let's hope there are more good days than bad, or horribly bad!

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  11. S.A. LarsenッFebruary 4, 2015 at 11:10 AM

    What a great idea! I never thought of molding my insecurities into a pretend person. I think I might be able to reason with 'it' that way. Thanks!

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  12. Haneen IbrahimFebruary 4, 2015 at 11:23 AM

    Lol! I so need to try this :)

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  13. Susan Gourley/KelleyFebruary 4, 2015 at 1:29 PM

    I never tried that but if those first two monsters lurk in your office, I won't be visiting any time soon. LOL Pretty cool idea.

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  14. JenniFebruary 4, 2015 at 7:12 PM

    LOL! This is great! I think my inner editor is more of a mean librarian, who's mad that I reshelved her books in the wrong place. But I love your image of the nice librarian instead!

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  15. Shannon LawrenceFebruary 4, 2015 at 11:32 PM

    I haven't imagined my inner editor, but now I think I will!

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  16. Juneta keyFebruary 5, 2015 at 1:32 AM

    Great post. I just wrote a post about My Muse & My Editor
    My editor get frustrated with my Muse, because my muse likes to communicate in imagery, symbolism and metaphor and make my editor figure it out, lol. So my editor retaliates by criticizing to get out of it.

    Juneta at Writer's Gambit

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  17. LizaFebruary 5, 2015 at 9:29 AM

    I just ban my insecurities. When our daughter was little, I used to say "There are no monsters allowed in our house." I use the same method with my worries when they try to crop up. I just tell them they at not allowed.

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  18. Laura ClipsonFebruary 5, 2015 at 9:53 AM

    I've never really imagined my inner editor, I love your imaginings though!

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  19. Elizabeth SeckmanFebruary 5, 2015 at 1:03 PM

    I imagine Danny Devito. He can never be scary and he makes me laugh. No matter how much he yells!

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  20. Laurel GarverFebruary 5, 2015 at 2:05 PM

    I think my internal editor is a bit like the second version of yours, without the vampire vibe. Supermodel Ivy-League grad who makes every idea seem like the stupidest ever with the slightest raise of one perfectly plucked eyebrow. Yeah,, her. Not sure how to imaginatively tame her though. On good days, she switches to sweats and geeks out with me about Harry Potter, then fixes all my mistakes.

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    Replies
    1. Tyrean MartinsonFebruary 5, 2015 at 4:08 PM

      I'm glad she switches to sweats and geeks out with you now and then, but I like the images! :)

      Delete
  21. SpanjFebruary 5, 2015 at 10:45 PM

    You might like to know that the editing advice you gave me is spreading. Check this out: angelinetrevena.co.uk/news--blog/insecure-writers-support-group-on-editing

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  22. AnonymousFebruary 6, 2015 at 10:20 AM

    Hee, hee. My inner editor will never bother me again. Whenever it shows up, I'll be reminded of this post, and I'll be laughing too much to pay attention to it. :)

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  23. Cherie ReichFebruary 6, 2015 at 11:37 AM

    What a neat idea! I haven't really thought about what my inner editor looks like. Then again, if she's more the librarian type, she might look a lot like me. ;)

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  24. Scribbles From JennFebruary 6, 2015 at 7:18 PM

    I have!! It was a giant green monster hiding my book behind its back! I drew it, painted it, and keep in on my writing folder to remind me to keep working.

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  25. UnknownFebruary 7, 2015 at 2:43 AM

    I never thought about what my inner editor looked like. I love the descriptions of yours - they were hilarious! I think mine would look like Hannibal Lechter, with a sarcastic voice and contemptuous smirk. And he might eat me....

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  26. Donna McDineFebruary 7, 2015 at 2:13 PM

    Hysterical post! At times my inner editor looks like the red headed monster from Bugs Bunny!

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Thanks for taking time to share your awesomeness!