Writing without the Internal Editor

So, a third question I was asked recently: How do you deal with that internal editor that tells you everything you’re writing is crap and makes you keep deleting everything?
First of all, a good internal editor is not something to be unhappy about. Most beginning writers have no internal editor at all. I remember what this was like as a kid and a teenager. I read everything and I liked everything I read. It was fun to be a reader, but it didn’t make me a good writer. It made it impossible for me to see if something was wrong. If someone pointed out a problem in my stories, I didn’t know how to fix them without just rewriting everything and basically writing a different story.
An internal editor is what makes it possible for you to move past first draft writing. You MUST have an internal editor in order to be a published writer. Celebrate this critical part of becoming a mature reader. That internal editor is what allows you to watch television and see what is wrong with an episode of a show you love. It’s what makes it possible for you to talk to other people about what works and doesn’t in a movie you’ve both seen.
Now, having an internal editor also means that you don’t enjoy as many things as you used to. This is one downside. You won’t love everything you read. You won’t breathlessly wait for what happens next because you’ve seen the pattern and you can guess. If the writer isn’t doing a really good job, you’re going to have it all written in your head before you see it unfold before you on the page.
But an internal editor can get in the way of writing a quick first draft. Some writers simply accept this and write very slow first drafts. They may write 400-500 words a day and not always new words, either. There is nothing wrong with writing this way, if it works for you. And by works, I mean you actually have a manuscript by the end of a year or so. (Some writers take even longer than a year to get a working manuscript—like four or five years and it doesn’t kill them.)
If you want to pound out a quick first draft, here are some ideas on how to do it:
1. Have a writing space that you go to every day and that makes you feel safe and comfortable.
2. Fill your writing space with objects that have a positive connotation for you. Good reviews printed out. Photos of happy family members who love you. Trophies or medals from successes in your past.
3. Keep snacks of whatever kind will make you stay in your writing space and keep writing. If it’s chocolate, keep chocolate around of every kind that you love. If it’s dried fruit and nuts, keep that.
4. Many writers play instrumental music while they write to set the right mood for the piece they are working on. (I personally don’t like any music at all, except perhaps the happy hum of the dishwasher.)
5. Reread something that you’ve written before and that you are proud of before you start on any new words for the day.
6. Think positive thoughts about your new writing project.
7. Keep a journal that you write a few sentences in at the beginning and end of each writing day. Remind yourself what it is you are writing about, what you love about this book, who the characters are and so on. Write about your hopes for the day, and then what you think you’ve accomplished that day.
8. Light a scented candle or keep a scent in the room that helps you keep on track mentally.
9. Fill the room with books you love that you can consult when necessary.
10. Keep other people out of this room because you want the energy there to be writing energy, not talking energy.