Sometimes I get so stuck on trying to do something well that I can’t even get myself to begin. A few timid attempts result in the Inner Critic telling me I will fail, or be proclaimed a terrible fraud of a creative person, or any of the other clever and deadly things he taunts me with. But here is a good way to trick him into shutting up and getting out of the way while I create.

Use cheap materials. When I downgrade from fine drawing paper to copy paper, it’s obvious to the Inner Critic that I am not doing anything important or worth criticising. If I draw with a gel pen or a Sharpie, I don’t get nearly the same pokes as I do if I pick up a technical pen.

This won’t work if I really do need to create something fine but 95% of the time I don’t need permanence because I’m making a birthday gift or a sign or some silly whatever to amuse a friend. It is disposable creativity and so a Flair on notebook paper will work as well as a brush and canvas. Sure it won’t last through the ages, but it doesn’t need to.

The Inner Critic is so easy to fool sometimes.