In fact, one research study by psychologists specialising in creative persistence found that there’s something inherent about the creative process itself that causes what they call ‘disfluency’.1 Any creative project involves making mistakes, navigating blind corners, getting lost down dead ends, feeling embarrassed by early attempts.

The imperfections you’re tempted to fix might prove to be what make the work great. And sometimes not. We rarely know what makes a piece great. No one can know.