As I say in my book, “How To Be A Writer Who Writes”, (a phrase I love saying and really should say more), different phases of the writing process call for different kinds of writing. In Phases 1 (Gathering) and 3 (Drafting), critical thinking is unnecessary and can even be counter-productive. In Phases 2 (Planning) and 4 (Rewriting), critical thinking is crucial.
If you’re in Phase 2 or 4 of your project, or you’re helping someone else with their project, you might be able to use some of these 7 Tools for Critical Thinking from philosopher Daniel Dennett, posted in this article in Open Culture (“The best free cultural & educational media on the web”)
1. Use Your Mistakes
2. Respect Your Opponent
3. The “Surely” Klaxon
4. Answer Rhetorical Questions
5. Employ Occam’s Razor
6. Don’t Waste Your Time on Rubbish
7. Beware of Deepities
GREG MILLER - Author & Writing Coach 
YOur writers blog and info are the best writing tools on the internet. I enjoy and value reading your posts more than anyone else’s. Thank you for all you do. And I have your Writers Who Write book on my Fire! All the BEST, Laura Dion-Jones
Thank you, Laura. I really appreciate the appreciation. Are you doing some writing of your own?
Best,
Greg