Wondering why you’re having difficulty starting, sticking with or completing a writing project? Your Creative Gremlins could be to blame.
Look, you’re here so the chances are you love to write. Or, at the very least, you’d like to write. So why is it sometimes so damn difficult to get to the page and just do some writing?
That’ll be your Creative Gremlins.
Who are they?
They’re the Imposter Syndrome Gremlin that says: “You’re not a writer.”
The Control Freak Gremlin that says, “You can’t start until you’re absolutely ready.”
The Hyper-Critical Gremlin that says: “You’re terrible at this! You should quit.”
The Too-Cool-For-School Gremlin that says: “Your work isn’t proper writing.”
The Procrastination Gremlin that says: “Hey, wouldn’t it be more fun to do…literally anything else?!”
The Tyrant Gremlin that says: “If you’re going to do it, it has to hurt.“
And the Completition-Phobic Gremlin that says, “Almost finished? Great! Let’s start something new!’
Recognise some of these? No wonder. No matter how far along you are on your creative path, these little menaces come along for the ride. Creative Gremlins come in many disguises, but they all have one aim in common: they want to knock your confidence, belittle and attack you, and generally ensure that you abandon your creative project.
So if you’re wondering why, when you long to write still you never set down a single word; or why, even when you do dare to commit your ideas to the page you just as quickly stop; or why you’ve started twenty projects and finished none of them; or why even though you are a ‘successful’ writer, sometimes you fear to begin their next story? Creative Gremlins are why.
Still, it’s okay to have these Gremlins. It’s perfectly normal. There’s just no way to get on the creative road without them showing up. but now you are aware of them, you can learn to understand and eventually circumvent these troublemakers. And along the way, you’ll also be learning how to strengthen your creativity, develop a habit of tenacity, and nurture a self-belief, determination and commitment to your craft that you wouldn’t otherwise have had access to.
Ultimately, our Creative Gremlins strengthen us as creative people. It’s just they don’t know that.
This is an excerpt from the book Seven Creative Gremlins by Nicola Jackson and Teresa Wilson. Want to find out more about your own Creative Gremlins? Pick up a copy of the book, now just £1.99 ebook and £6.99 paperback!
Take this fun, one minute quiz
and find out!
