Hi Fabeku — Land mines is right! Lots of tip-toing required to sneak around the perfectionism thing.

Hi Rebecca –Glad this was helpful. Good luck with your novel–you’re brave!

Hi Jay –’Is it good enough?’ is tough. I try not to throw things out but I really do stash a lot of my stuff in drawers, boxes, document files on the advice of my inner critic too.

I wonder what would happen if I asked back “Good enough for who?” i might try that, my inner critic hates it when I get sassy back.

A blue coat–what a great flash of colour! I love that you saw it twice, thanks for letting me know.

cheers,
Dave

This post was mentioned on Twitter by creativechai: New blog post: 5 Unhelpful Questions For Your New Creative Project http://bit.ly/bMN7RQ...

I came across this site from Havi’s, liking what I see and the subjects raised. Oh, and the colour thing from your newsletter – mine was a blue coat! A gorgeous unusual wonderful deep blue and I saw it twice on different people so I figured it was my flash of colour sign (or that some random people are trying to freak me out by wearing the same coat!).

My big stucks happen around #1 and #5. They’ve got all kinds of tricky landmines in them for me.

So I have to keep my eyes open and keep moving. Otherwise my time and energy get eaten up with planning and chasing perfect, which is pretty blech.

One question that sometimes bugs me is will I have time to finish it. Usually, the answer is no, so I don’t want to start. But why don’t I ask what I can finish?

Thanks for your thoughtful comment, it’s great to know you’re reading and getting something from the blog. About that lurking thing–I do it all the time, and on some of my favourite blogs too

There sure are a million ways to put off being creative aren’t there? I love the image of a huge DETOUR sign blinking away.

Cheers,
Dave

Hi.

I especially relate to this post, because I often find my questions and ‘thoughts’ before I embark (or wish to embark) on a creative process are my biggest stumbling blocks. I falter, I lose confidence and I come to a screeching standstill. I find that I use real concerns and make them into excuses too- ‘I don’t have enough time’, ‘There are a million things to do- and this is how I want to spend my time?’, ‘You have to finish your thesis’- and a hundred others. Throw these in with the 5 unhelpful questions and there’s a huge big DETOUR sign blinking at me.

Thanks for the thoughts on how to respond to the questions- it may not be an answer, but it’s a response. And sometimes, all you need to do is have a comeback to let you keep going.

Thanks. x