You wake early because you’ve highlighted two hours in your schedule and you’re going to work on your book. The last time you sat down to write, two days ago, the words flowed effortlessly and you felt elated. Now, you touch your fingers to the keys, but instead of joy, you feel a chill at the base of your neck. You are not quite present, a bit out of sorts. You try to shake off the shadow, shake the mood, but you find yourself forcing the words onto the page. You persevere for another ten minutes but it only gets worse and the writing is awkward, clumsy, self-conscious. You are starting to feel queasy, and it occurs to you this whole book is doomed. You’re no writer, you’re a fake, a wannabe.
Right? Wrong.
What’s going on here is an invasion. Your inner critic has broken through your internal boundaries and disrupted your psychological privacy, the privacy necessary for fostering creative flow. Your thoughts are now under the control of your very own tricksters, gremlins, and saboteurs.
- Immediately begin the Ten-Minute-Vent (see archives)
- Dedicate today’s writing to someone who inspires you to embrace risk and wildness
- Spend at least five minutes centering yourself through breathing and meditation
- Slowly count back from 100, eyes closed, allowing yourself to sink deep into your book…87, 86, and flow!
