One of the members of my Writing Breakthrough Strategy Program has hit that point in the writing process where his inner critic is starting to bring up some Big Doubts: does the story really work? Was this the right choice of story? Would it be better to totally revamp the outline rather than writing scenes?
I'm guessing these sound familiar. Those of us with strong inner critics (which is most of us) usually find these kinds of unsettling thoughts coming up at some stage of writing a script or manuscript.
Fortunately, there is a way to engage with the inner critic and turn its input into something constructive. Here's how:
Have an interview with the inner critic. Ask him/her/it what are the specific concerns about the story--"it doesn't work" isn't a good enough answer. Insist on specifics, but without defending the current story. Make a list of all the specifics your IC comes up with.
Then do something physical (even a minute of jogging in place is fine) and go to a different room and get into a neutral frame of mine--imagine this is somebody else's story--and go over the list. Which, if any, are valid concerns?
If some are, check whether they are big enough to warrant reworking the story, or whether they can be addressed as you go along. For instance, if one of the comments is that a certain character seems weak, can you fix that by making sure she comes alive in the scenes you already have planned, or does it mean having to rejig the story to give her a bigger role?
This strategy gets you away from the generalizations ("The whole thing doesn't work, maybe I should start over, or maybe I should do a different story alteogether") to specifics ("OK, there's not enough happening in the second act, so let me look at whether a subplot might help with that and also bring out more about my protagonist's earlier life").
If the IC can't come up with specifics, you know that what you're experiencing is just general insecurity. Put it aside and work on faith for a while. When you get some momentum going, the anxiety will fade.
I hope that is useful--let me know!
