What IF?!
Sharing a favorite strategy for shushing your inner critic
Hello, friends, Amy Peele here!
I’ve noticed over the years that most curious and creative people start their next adventure with a What if:
What if I tried to make that complicated quilt or knit that challenging sweater?
What if I wanted to walk a 5k for a cause dear to me even though I don’t exercise much?
What if I redecorate my whole home room by room on nights and weekends?
When I entertained the idea of becoming a writer (what if I wanted to write a book despite never having done it before?), my inner critic had a lot to say in an effort to keep me “safe” from the possibility of failure.
“You’re not a writer – you’re a nurse!”
“You’re not a good speller, and if you can’t spell you can’t be a good writer.”
“There are enough writers and books already - you just stick to what you know.”
Rinse and repeat.
And yes, negative inner chatter like that stopped me from starting again and again, for a long, long time. I think it might be like that for a lot of us, though - things that are wholly unfamiliar cause us to slow down when we approach them, no matter how intrigued we are by the idea of it.
(Plus, I really don’t love doing things I’m not good at in front of lots of people - it seems kind of like setting myself up for unnecessary criticism, and who wants to sign up for that?!)
Why stir the pot? I’d already found something I was pretty good at, and had a respectable 35-year career in organ transplantation to show for it. Switching gears to something fully unknown like writing books almost felt a little dangerous (and a lot vulnerable!). The safest thing to do, my inner critic insisted, was to stay strictly INSIDE my comfort zone. I could buy books, read books, and even go see movies based on books, but I wasn’t going to write the books. I’d leave that to the writers.
Except, the truth was, I did want to write a book.
I wanted to at least try.
So to turn down the volume of my inner critic (who was really in a panic at this point), I decided to take baby steps.
The first one was signing up for a non-credit creative writing class at our local community college; I figured if I was horrible, at least I wouldn’t be graded on it. What I found there instead was a kind, compassionate teacher who read my short stories and asked for more. Little by little, I kept dipping my toes in the water. I put words on paper, shared them in a safe space, and watched my confidence gain footing.
I met new friends who were also starting to explore writing, and 25 years later, our group of four is still going strong! We call ourselves the Bella Quatros, and at this point, we have 17 published books (and counting) between us.
And it turns out we all have an inner critic - we call them gremlins - who still try to thwart us, so we decided long ago to name them! My gremlin is called Ursula, and when she gets her megaphone out, I call my Bella friend, Betsy. Betsy knows all about gremlins (hers is named Dominique), so when I share that Ursula is getting too loud, Betsy says, “Put her on the phone.” It usually only takes a few minutes before Ursula has been put back in her rightful place.
Now, I know this is made up, but here’s the thing - it’s been instrumental in helping me put one foot in front of the other. So if you want to try naming your inner critic, I say go for it. Bonus points if you can surround yourself with friends who believe in you and know how to tell the gremlins where to go!
On top of everything else, I’m especially grateful I found the courage all those years ago to ask myself, what if? If I hadn’t let myself wonder, I never would have published a book, and now here I am, preparing my FIFTH book for publication early next year! I turned what if into what IS.
Take that, Ursula!
I hope this finds you chasing your dreams,
Amy
Amy S. Peele, RN, is an award-winning, best-selling author who studied improv at Second City Players and has a fascinating 35-year career in the organ transplant field under her belt. Her experiences provide authentic backdrops for not only for her medical mysteries Cut, Match, and Hold, a series with a mission and a sense of humor, but also her childhood memoir, Aunt Mary’s Guide to Raising Children the Old-Fashioned Way, and her upcoming romantic comedy, Last Bite (coming early 2026). Amy’s books have gained national recognition with accolades such as the NYC Big Book Award, Chanticleer International Book Awards, IPPY, Independent Press Awards, and more. Amy enjoys laughter, meditating, Pilates, yoga, swimming, and eating good food, especially with good people. She always has been, is, and always will be a die-hard Cubs fan. Find out more and get in touch at: www.amyspeele.com.