Overthinking Much? Write Your Way Out Of Creative Doubt...

The Forever Workshop Community Corner — 06.11.25

Hey gang,

Just wanted to share an excellent little nugget-of-wisdom from this week’s Comedy for All workshop, because it applies across the board when it comes to creative doubt, imposter syndrome, and that dreaded overthinking spiral…

There’s a subtle difference between the following two thoughts:

“Is idea X funny? Hmm, I don’t know. How would other people react to it? Is it smart? Ugh. I don’t know.”

“Hey, idea X is kind of funny. Let’s see where it goes…”

You want to vibe more with that second thought than the first one, especially when you’re in first draft mode. When you’re editing and paring down, you can be more discerning.

— How to Write a Comedic Personal Essay by Alex Baia

Four very important points to draw from this beautifully simple breakdown:

1. That first thought is full of doubt — and sets impossible expectations for us to know what the hell we’re writing before we’ve even had a chance to explore it. A surefire path to freeze-mode.

2. This first thought also projects a whole load of imaginary judgement onto a hypothetical audience, which breaks the fourth wall and pulls us out of the immersion of creation — as vulnerable as a crab out of its shell.

3. That second thought, however… Try saying, “Let’s see where it goes…” out loud and see if it doesn’t make your shoulders relax just a little. In fact, whenever you hit a point in your WIP where the doubt starts to creep in, try writing those very words out on your manuscript. Let’s see where it goes. So much potential. Permission to give it a go. And an invitation to be curious about it.

4. And finally: acknowledging when you’re in ‘first draft mode’ — and fully embracing that liminal state of creating. First draft mode is goblin mode. It’s experimental mode. It’s exploration mode. It’s running buck-naked through the streets mode (metaphorically, please). It’s ‘huh, let’s see where it goes’ mode. There is no space for doubt, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, overthinking, or judgement to bum the vibe here. And it’s ok to not know what you’re doing (yet).

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Of course, it’s easier said than done, I know.

But little tricks and phrases like “let’s see where it goes” really can be effective in combatting the doubt-spiral.

See also:

“It doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to be.”

No matter how shitty the first draft is, at least it exists, right?

Or:

“Future-me can figure this one out.”

And then move on to the next bit you are sure of…

Or:

“What is the question I’m trying to answer here?”

Forget about the end product, or even how you’re going to write it, and focus on what led you to this idea. What excited you about this idea? What intrigues you about this idea? Then keep on exploring that.

What’s YOUR Overthinking Wisdom?

Your turn.

Tell us the hacks that get you out of the overthinking-doubt-spiral-of-doom and back into your writing:

• Is there a piece of advice someone gave you that still resonates in your brain?

• Know a weird trick to banish the bad vibes? (Eg: burn sage, turn counter-clockwise three times and yell BEGONE, FOUL IMPOSTER!)

• A creative quote that always gets you feeling inspired and ready to tackle the page again?

Share your best creative wisdom and help a fellow writer out of the quagmire.

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