Talking To Myself (Do You Talk to Yourself, Too?)

Maybe it's because I'm on sabbatical and have no students this semester... maybe it's because I'm getting used to the idea that my daughter doesn't live here anymore...

butlately, I've been TALKING TO MYSELF MORE THAN USUAL! Do you talk to yourself, too? Not everyone who does this will admit it. But I have no shame about it. I think talking to yourself is a wonderful thing, especially if you're a writer.

Mostly, I talk  to myself about the manuscript I am working on. "Now where's she gonna be for this scene?" I asked myself today (out loud) when I was making tea in the kitchen. I was talking about my narrator. She needs to overhear a conversation, but I had to figure out where that was going to happen. (And it worked. I came up with an answer.)

Sometimes, my characters talk to me, too. (I love when that happens.)

Other times, I talk to myself when I need a little encouragement. "You did a good job today," I told myself just now.

Last year, in my Nonsense class (did you know I am a specialist in Nonsense?), we talked about talking to ourselves. I told the students that I read it is important to speak NICELY to yourself. This can happen whether you talk to yourself out loud, or whether you are just talking inside your head. Psychologists call this "cognitive thinking." Apparently, it's not healthy to yell at yourself or berate yourself or make yourself feel bad. So in case you've never tried it, tell yourself something nice, or give yourself a small problem to solve. And if it works, let me know!!