A Conversation With My Inner Editor

I'm in a room. The only other things present, besides two chairs and a desk, are my MS and my Inner Editor. The former is sitting in a corner talking with my MCs and the latter is looking at me, arms crossed, toes tapping on the floor.
   "Look, would it be so hard to go over this part--" my Inner Editor starts to say, but I interrupt.
   "I want to WRITE."
   "So? Edit! You need to edit!"
   "But then I'll lose the flow of the writing and'll get bogged down in editing and revisions. You've never written a novel! You don't know what it's like!"
   "No, I've never written a novel. I'm an Editor, Ms. Author. And I say you should start editing! That sentence is horrible. Look at all the atrocious cliches and stereotypes and plotholes you could drive a tanker through!"
   "They'll get fixed later, I promise! Just let me write--"
   "No."
   "Please!"
   "NO."
   "I need to get this part down . . . if I don't, I'll lose all my inspiration."
   "I don't care. You need to fix things. I'm telling you to edit. That's an order."
   I stare. I sit down. I call my MS over from the corner of the room because my IE is so insistent. My MS gets up and tucks the characters aside while I start looking it over, from the beginning.
   But moments later, while my IE is gloating over my shoulder while I start to fix what I've written, I slam shut the computer.
   My IE stares at me.
   "I don't need you looking over my shoulder."
   "It's my job as your Inner Editor--"
   "I'm tired of this. I'm going to write, and you're not going to stop me."
   I open the laptop again and start typing away, ignoring my IE's gasps and call for me to stop adding junk to a horrible manuscript and get back to editing.
   Because I'm exasperated and I decide enough is enough. The constant nattering by my IE is too much.
   "Just sit down!" I snap finally, glaring at my IE. My IE looks back at me, face blank.
   Seconds later, my IE speaks. I think it's because I've gone against the editing, but then I realize it's because of something else altogether.
   "You know, just 'sit down' would have been better. More concise, and you wouldn't have needed that adverb in the dialogue tag. Not to mention--"
   "QUIET!"
   I turn away. My IE, unknown to me, smiles with satisfaction and leans back in the chair.
   Well, my IE thinks, she certainly didn't mince words in that dialogue. And no dialogue tag. Progress!


-----The Golden Eagle