I’m coming to realize that the more I care about what my critics say, the worse my thinking becomes. It becomes imprecise and unguided, for any critic could sway me in any direction. And so any direction at all becomes the cause of writing, rather than clear-headedness of a goal

Related: https://twitter.com/jonathanrheaps/status/1288540268350836736?s=21 https://twitter.com/jonathanrheaps/status/1288540268350836736

It’s very easy and troublesome to worry about this stuff though—what with reviewers reading submissions, professors grading, colleagues hearing/reading. “What will they think?” Isn’t inherently a bad question but we easily become occupied by it and it shows in our writing.

The greatest unspoken critic is ourselves. What will I think of this in 10 years? 5? 1? Tomorrow? Our minds are bound to change on a whole host of things but we cannot anticipate what we might believe in the future. We must sit w/ and reflect on (& perhaps cherish) our minds now