One of the biggest fears that people deal with around creativity is the fear of what other people will think. Many of us try to tell ourselves that we don’t care, but this just isn’t true. We worry that we will be judged or criticized if we put our creative work out there.
Sometimes we’re worried that people will judge our work as inadequate and then we’ll feel like we have no talent as a writer or an artist. Sometimes we’re scared that others will misunderstand us and not grasp the message we’re trying to convey through our work. We might also worry that we will offend family, friends, or even strangers.
All of these worries can be paralyzing and hold us back from true creative self-expression. If we fixate on these worries we will block ourselves from ever moving forward with our writing or art, because we will be so consumed with fear that any creative effort at all will feel like an utter impossibility.
The root of this problem is that we tend to believe that the people we know also represent the people who will be the audience for our work. So, we start off by sharing our early creative efforts with the wrong people. However, there is a one golden rule that you can put in place for yourself that protects your creative work from unwanted criticism.
I talk about this rule—and how to start following it—in the video below:
I’m going to be diving deep into the topic of what an artist or writer can do when experiencing anxiety around creativity in my new workshop, Fear & Creativity, happening this Saturday Aug 5 at 1:00 pm EST. I’ll be covering:
The root cause of most anxiety for sensitive creative people
What to do when you are scared potential readers will be turned off by your work
How to overcome the fear of judgment
How to tap into your own unique power of creative self-expression
…and more.
Registration is now open and you can find all the details and register here:
Please also make sure you SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel here to get more videos on writing, creativity, and living your best creative life. If you have any questions about this workshop, or future classes, you can send them to me here.
I’ve gotten a lot of requests to teach a workshop on this topic, and a ton of people have already signed up, so I anticipate this being a full (and fun) workshop.
I’d love for you to join us!
Lauren Sapala is the author of The INFJ Writer, The INFJ Revolution, and the creator of Understanding Yourself as an INFJ Writer, an online video course for INFJ writers who struggle with traditional writing methods. You can get a free copy of her book on creative marketing for writers by signing up for her newsletter HERE.
