One useful way to take the pressure off making something—anything!—is to never show it to anyone else. It’s just you and your work. You can say whatever you want to say. 

Write down your deepest fears. Write down the ambition that’s too unrealistic to even whisper about to anyone else. Write what you’ve wished you could say to someone. Write about the memory makes you want to cringe even just after a millisecond of recollection, that you hope nobody else remembers. Write about the person you want to become.

(When I use the verb, “Write,” I’d suggest swapping it to the verb that energizes you most: “Draw,” “Compose,” “Paint,” “Design,” “Program,” “Collect,” “Collage,” “Dance,” “Record,” or any other verb really.)

If you want to get even more expressive, dispose of the work after. Tear up the piece of paper, or shred it, and throw it in the garbage.

James Pennebaker coined the term expressive writing to describe the practice of journaling and then getting rid of the pages after. 

Sharon Jones created Burn After Writing based on a similar premise (and Emily Lauren Brewin posted Sharon’s prompts here).

You might be surprised at what comes up. It’s always been there, waiting to have a chance to reveal itself. 

P.S., It won’t be anything you can’t handle, because you’ve been handling it this whole time.