If your Inner Critic is stopping you from writing or from marketing what you have written, here are three tips for overcoming writer's block--to control, rather than be controlled by, your Inner Critic:
- Give your Inner Critic a name and image. Make it a bit goofy, that takes away some of its power to intimidate. I suggested something like this (Fudd):
2. If giving your IC the entire day off is too hard, give it an hour off at a time. Visualize your IC as an entity you can talk to (easier to do if you close your eyes). Ask it what concerns it has. If it's the same old "what if you're not good enough, what if nobody wants to read your book, who are you to be a writer anyway?" stuff, tell your IC you've heard it before and you aren't going to concern yourself with it right now.
3. Keep it busy with something else, a less important matter that involves some kind of decision. For instance, suggest it debate with itself about what you should eat for dinner.
If it comes back while you're working, send it packing again for at least another hour.
(You'll find lots more right-brain methods in my book, "Focus: use the power of targeted thinking to get more done," published by Pearson and available from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)
