ABSTRACT
In this chapter, Line Henriksen explores the figure of the “internal editor”: the little voice at the back of some writers’ minds that tells them their writing is not good enough. Theorists and authors within the fields of academic and creative writing have discussed and theorized the figure of the internal editor, and writer Julia Cameron has even named her own “Nigel” in order to minimize its hold on her. Henriksen takes inspiration from Cameron but also turns to folklore in order to gain a more in-depth understanding of the (alien) agency of the internal editor as well as the complicated and vulnerable relationship one may have with it. Through an exploration of Danish folklore and witch trial documents, as well as Gloria Anzaldúa’s work on the interconnections between creatures of folklore, creative processes, and writer’s block, she attempts to understand her own Nigel as a familiar spirit and unhelpful helper that hails from the pits of her blocked writing. Henriksen suggests that approaching one’s internal overly critical editor as a named familiar may change how one relates to it as well as how one might work with rather than against it.
