by Leo Wiles
23 May 2014
An empty page. A looming deadline. It doesn’t matter if you’re a journo, a PR, a designer or other creative – there’s nothing like that surge of adrenalin the night before something’s due to remind you that you’re alive.
The problem? Fear of failure by creating something your audience won’t connect with or that your boss won’t like can also feel like it’s literally killing you. Or at the very least paralysing your creativity.
It’s akin to the breathless, chest squeezing feeling I have when my boys climb too high or my daughter is blithely doing a gymnastics routine that could see us making friends with our local emergency department again. The difference is, the anxiety I feel watching my children discover new ways to potentially die is highly unpleasant with no foreseeable trade off.
When it comes to work, it doesn’t seem to matter that I have scores of marketing campaigns and thousands of interviews and inches behind me. The rational part of my brain knows that my work will be to brief, on time and most likely well received, but I need the performance anxiety to deliver my best work. The heady rush and fear is also a welcome reminder – 20+ years into my career – that I’m still passionate about wanting to connect with my audience, regardless of whether it’s via an article or a photograph.
And really there’s nothing wrong with fear (fear of failure, fear of success, fear of looking stupid and fear of the unknown) unless you let it stop you. So, here are six tips on how to banish the fear and be your creative best:
1. Make a cup of tea. It’s my starting ritual, and while the kettle boils I take the time to remind myself of recent successes, positive feedback and even flip through some cuts I’m proud of.
2. Break down creative roadblocks by creating a roadmap of tasks to reach the destination rather than simply focusing on the arrival.
3. Face the fear, acknowledge it and then put it aside – stop engaging or encouraging it.
4. Don’t compare yourself to others. My admiration for Bill Bryson’s travel writing killed my ambition stone dead until I climbed a live volcano that just had to be written about. Only then, could I finally put Bill’s spectre to rest!
5. Begin. Making the decision to start typing is a commitment to finishing. Perfection can come with polishing, but for now just start writing.
6. Tune into your frontal cortex rather than using you reptilian brain! It’ll really help you realise this current situation is NOT life or death even if it may feel like it!
Do you, like me, need a touch of performance anxiety to create your best work?
Sometimes it works for me to produce last minute – and some of my best work has come out of those heady, anxious deadline hours. But more often than not I like at least 1-2 days between finishing something and handing it in – it HAS to settle both on the page and in my mind, before I’m comfortable handing it in.
I will say though, I get The Fear whenever I have to write for a new editor. Doesn’t matter how long I’ve been doing it for, I never quite lose the fear that he or she won’t like the story / will hate my writing style / will think I’m a fraud etc etc. Ha 🙂
I agree with Rachel!
That last-minute rush can sometimes produce great work but it’s the feeling I am left with after submission that I don’t like in those circumstances.
There is nothing like that feeling of being organised and letting it ‘settle’ that leaves ME feel settled and more motivated to get on with the next project.
Oh I have had a few moments like that