Stop the Editor/Censor in your Head

You know what I mean. That little voice that screams out :
“Stop!
What do you think you’re doing?
You can’t do that.
It’s stupid.
Nobody will like this.
Even if they did it isn’t right.
It’s not perfect!
You’re Not perfect.
Who do you think you are anyway?
Van Gogh?
You don’t deserve to create like this!
It’s a dumb idea.
The reader will hate it.
And hate you. And your little dog Toto too!”

Tell me. You’ve been there. Done that. I just did this weekend in creating my weekly sports cartoon that runs in the Chicago Tribune. I thought this is a silly idea. My editors years ago would hate this. The Trib editors won’t like it either. But it’s funny. It made me laugh. So I thought, why not. Draw it and send it with a bunch of other roughs. That way it won’t stand out as like a sore thumb. And so I did.

The e-mail I got back: “We love the baseball mocking Dunn. So let that one rip!”.

Now the next time you hear that little voice inside that beautiful creative head of yours, the voice that sounds like Don Rickles, the one saying to stop the writing, the painting, the poem, the song, the comic, tell it to shut the hell up!

Put up an imaginary sign that says Quiet: Creative Genius at Work!

Because every act of creativity is the act of a genius at work.

Believe it. Live it. Love it. Create Joy!

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