An Inner Writer Group?
You know the psychological theory of how ‘parts’ operate within each of us, right? It’s based on the Internal Family Systems (IFS) framework, originated in the 1980s by Richard Schwartz. You’ve probably heard of it, and may in fact have experience viewing yourself and others using an IFS lens.
In a nutshell, “A core tenet of IFS is that every part [within a person] has a positive intent, even if its actions are counterproductive or cause dysfunction. There is no need to fight with, coerce, or eliminate parts; the IFS method promotes internal connection and harmony to bring the mind back into balance.”
Maybe, instead of parts theory, you’ve come across the similar notion of our personal ‘board members’ – aspects within ourselves who interact, cooperatively or not, around the table together in the board room. Parts or board members can include Inner Critic, Firefighter, Judge, Enabler, Bully, and so on.
In conversation with a friend the other day, this question arose: What if you invited your inner board members to form a writer group?
In addition to the corporeal writer group(s) you may already belong to, what if you made an imaginary one, populated by the ‘board members’ or ‘parts’ that speak up when we’re in a creative space?
The board can consist of parts within yourself, and/or even parts/characters/opinions within the manuscript you’re writing.
Parts as Board Members
Can you picture them? Mine could include the inner grump who tends to point out my grammar and punctuation glitches, but whose occasional big-picture insights are worth the aggravation. The fey one who notices subtleties but whose criticisms are couched in such gentle, indirect language that I’m not sure I get their point. The bully whose strong opinions about what’s acceptable behavior for my characters have nearly silenced me on occasion. You probably have your own equivalent group of board members who speak up about your creative work. If we assume they are all there to help, does that change our responses?
When the grumpy compulsive copyeditor knocks our use of passive voice, consider saying thanks, and making the fix. When the poetic critiquer hints at something we don’t quite understand, consider asking them to say it another way so that you can. When the bully disapproves of the way our character spoke to their mother, consider whether that dialogue is correct and true for that character in that relationship at this point in the story. If it is, then the best thing to do may be to say thanks for the stress test, with the understanding that the bully just isn’t our target reader, no matter how good their intentions are. Just as in a group with other human writers, rather than defending our choices, we move on to the next item for discussion.
Fictional Characters as Board Members
What if we view our characters as board members? In a novel I’m drafting, I’ve found myself watching my three main characters as they figure out who’ll be in the driver’s seat, scene by scene, chapter by chapter. Even when a chapter is written in one character’s point of view, the momentum can sometimes arise from one of the other main players. It’s interesting to see them interact around the boardroom table – sometimes jockeying for position, sometimes gracefully receding to spotlight one another. (Honestly, these people don’t tend to hang out in boardrooms. Their conversations are more likely to be via text or while eating or traveling together.)
Fictional characters, in my experience, center emotions when they assert their position. For example, in my novel, character R wants to assert her opinion, T wants everyone to get along, and E wants to be a good person. All three of them, meanwhile, are facing loss, uncertainty, illness, creative challenges, and other forms of upheaval, while in relationship with one another. Being sensitive to their individual stances about a possible new plot point, or the weight each wants for their dialogue in a scene, is informative and constructive. I believe they all want the project to be as good as possible. They are each doing their part.
Ideas, Positions, and Arguments as Board Members
Nonfiction board meetings are more about ideas than emotions – in what I’ve been drafting, anyway. If the manuscript is long enough to be organized in sections, the sections may want to raise their voices, too:
- The second section is too long!
- It’s not fair that my section is being disassembled and thrown into appendices at the back of the book!
- If you’re going to give 600 words to that argument, then it’s only fair to amp up my argument as well. You’ll give the reader a false impression otherwise.
Nonfiction book parts can get aggressive, I’ve noticed. They can sling words around like the pros they are, but a lot of fancy knifework goes on too, just out of sight. I need to draw on management skills sometimes to keep things from getting out of hand. It helps to remember that they, too, are here to help.
Are You With Me?
Did I lose you there? Where, exactly? I’m not really exaggerating the useful roles that our internal parts, our characters, and our ideas can play in the creative process. Let me know if you’ve noticed these dynamics in your work as well. How do your parts and board members negotiate? How do they help you make creative progress?
PS Needless to say, this post is concerned with writing (not therapy, about which I’m completely unqualified to advise or comment).