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I have perfectionist tendencies. When I embark on a new writing project, a little monster appears on my shoulder and tells me it’s going to be a dismal failure. Life coach and author Martha Beck claims this is why writers drink. In my world, that little monster can become a major creative block.

There’s a cognitive therapy technique that allegedly helps banish these thoughts. You ask yourself what’s the worst thing that could happen, then deconstruct your faulty thinking by then asking yourself what’s so bad about that worst thing. Repeat as needed.

Here’s how that usually works for me:

Me: This is horrible. Nobody is going to like this. People are going to think I’m an idiot.

My Inner Shrink: Okay, what’s so bad about that?

Me: Shut up.

My Inner Shrink: That’s just you expressing discomfort. What’s so bad about feeling like an idiot?

Me: No, I mean it. Shut up.

Apparently I’m not big on sensible exercises I read in self-help books.

There’s been a new idea rattling around in my head during the past couple of weeks about how to better deal with my little monster. Since he’s mine (my monsters are always male for some reason), I can make him into anything I want.

So now the monster on my shoulder is Jack Spar Captain Jack Sparrow. When I find myself getting stuck or freaked out, I ask, “What would Jack do?”

I know what you’re thinking: the rum in my house will always be gone.

Never fear, I will not turn into a slobbering drunk. I don’t drink. I may, however, need a hat. A really big one.

My new strategy for breaking down creative blocks isn’t perfect, but it takes the edge off nicely. And textbooks be damned—it works for me.

Which brings me to the real reason for today’s post: I just finished putting together a free eCourse. It’s called The Creative Marketing Foundation Course. It’s primarily for artists and craftspeople, since it deals largely with selling physical objects, but creatives of all flavours are welcome to join in. Hey, everybody’s welcome. All you need to do is fill out your name and email address under the snazzy green booklet in the sidebar (if you’re reading this in email or your RSS reader, hop on over to the Studio Source to sign up).

The Creative Marketing Foundation Course is short and sweet: six lessons that translate mainstream marketing jargon and tell you how to adapt those concepts to your own marketing efforts (and quite possibly a bonus lesson, but you’re going to have to sign up to find out). Since it’s free, you can try it with no risk, and if it’s not what you’re looking for, no worries, you can unsubscribe easily. I won’t be too upset—I have Jack to comfort me.