Sometimes, your biggest critic is yourself. Nobody plans to be their own troll. It just happens.

You sit down to work on your book, or to write something for a client.

And then your inner critic slowly creeps in.

“Who do you think you are?”

“Why would anyone read this?”

“You’re stuck and overwhelmed.”

“Give up!” This book (or blog post, article, project) is a disaster!”

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It’s easy to say “Stop thinking negative thoughts.”

But when your biggest critic is yourself, it’s going to take more than just avoiding bad thoughts to help you keep writing and creating great work.

Here are 5 killer ways to slay your inner troll.

1. Let go of ridiculous expectations.

Your inner troll will try to tell you that you must write the perfect chapter or the perfect paragraph, NOW! And if you can’t do this now, it’s because you’re not a good writer.

That’s the problem with some trolls. They lie.

It takes time and at least a few, and often many, rough drafts before someone creates a finished product that’s ready to be seen by other people.

This will lead you to the next step.

2. Just write.

You need to replace the pressure to be perfect with the permission to play.

Write whatever comes to mind about your book or project’s topic. Try out different phrases. Move sentences around.

Having many sentences and phrases to choose from will help you decide which words or sentences to delete, which sections just need improvement and which words to keep.

Also, take things one step at a time. You don’t have to think about everything that could be in your entire book, or your whole blog, right this minute.

For now, just focus on writing a rough draft of a chapter or a paragraph. Then build upon that.

3. Remember your strengths.

Your inner critic might get louder as you face a possible weakness.

Maybe you’re writing about a topic that’s different from your previous work. Or maybe you’re writing for a website, and you don’t feel completely comfortable with the design or social media aspect of writing web content.

Remember your strengths. You’re great with words, so focus on writing first.

4. Rely on your resources.

Now you can fight your weaknesses, and your inner critic, with knowledge.

Do research to learn more about an unfamiliar topic. Read a beginner’s guide and tips on how to design a website page or how to promote a blog post on social media.

5. Enlist your (writing) troops.

Show your latest draft to a supportive friend and/or editor. 

This is why it’s so important to be part of an online and/or local group of writers. Show the latest draft of your work to another writer or editor.

If you don’t know any writers or editors, show your work to a friend, preferably a friend who writes well, who will give constructive criticism on what parts are great and what needs improvement.

Follow these steps and your inner critic will simply vanish.

And when the smoke clears, all that will be left is a great book or article that your readers will enjoy.

How do you deal with your inner critic? Let us know if you have any questions or share your advice by leaving a comment in the comments section below.