What to do when you hit a creative block
We’ve all been there. Those times when you’re feeling stuck, when your creative work just stalls. You spend hours staring at a blank screen or canvas, paralysed. You feel like you’ll never have another good idea again.
Or you have the ideas, you just can’t seem to commit to one, and make it into something more substantial. You keep starting, but nothing seems to work out.
You start asking pointless, disempowering questions like ‘What is wrong with me?’ And begin the familiar descent into procrastination, and self-loathing.
So what do you do when you’re feeling stuck?
I reached out to my own network of writers, film-makers, musicians, photographers and artists to ask what they do, when they hit a wall. (Because it happens, at some point. For all of us.)
Here, ranked in order of popularity, is what they suggested.
1. Go for a walk
Getting outside is a great way to re-energise and refresh the mind. The simple act of putting one foot in front of the other has been scientifically proved to aid thought, problem solving and creativity.
A brisk 20-minute walk can change your mindset completely. If you can do it somewhere stimulating and beautiful, all the better.
Sometimes, when I can’t solve a work problem, I’ll walk for an hour or more, deliberately concentrating on each of my senses in turn, observing everything around me, and trying not to dwell on whatever problem or paragraph I’m stuck on.
Often I’ll come back and begin to write, finding that the problem has sorted itself, somewhere between the sea-front, the fields and my home.
It’s interesting how many prolific writers have or had long walks as part of their daily routine. Stephen King (over 60 novels) walks 3-4 miles a day. Charles Dickens (over 20) went for long walks most afternoons, Charles Darwin (over 50 books and major scientific papers) had walks scheduled into his daily routine, often following what he called his ‘thinking path’ near his home in Kent.
2. Tidy up
Getting chores done was a close second. People talked about cooking, gardening, but most of all, doing housework. “It helps me think things through,” says one friend, a writer. “And if it doesn’t work, at least the house is clean!”
Sometimes, the inspiration you’re looking for is there, in the mess. The writer, artist and creative mentor Austin Kleon urges you to keep your tools tidy, but your materials messy. Tidying up the piles of papers, magazines and books on the floor of my office, I’ll often find something interesting: a reference I was keeping but then forgot about, something that sparks a fresh idea.
3. Take a break
Sometimes, we are simply weary. Make a hot drink. Have a short nap, or a quick bath. Stretch, take some deep breaths.
If you’ve been stuck or slow for a while, consider taking a holiday or at least having a few days away from your work, if you can.
When that’s not possible, even an hour can help. Go on a play date. Stay in bed all morning (or even all day). Or have an early night, with full permission to sleep in if you need to, the following day.
4. Do something completely different
Occupy your mind with something absorbing, that is completely different from the task you are stuck on. Meditate. Do some yoga. Bake bread. Knit. Call a friend. Do a crossword, or solve a puzzle.
Develop a hobby or activity that occupies your mind completely, giving your subconscious the space to quietly solve your work problems.
In his book Rest, Alex Soojung-Kim Pang calls this deep play. He talks about scientists who go rock climbing because it is physically challenging but also requires absolute mental focus, giving them a break from any problems they might be pondering at work.
One friend – a DJ and musician – advocated taking a different route home, or even a different form of transport than usual: “It’s amazing how changing your routine can spark ideas.”
5. A stiff drink!
Red wine featured heavily on the list, along with a host of other stimulants. This is fine in an emergency. But not so great if it becomes a routine.
Years ago, I remember talking to the British artist Marc Quinn about giving up drinking. He’d believed that’s where his ideas came from, he said, but finally he quit because the roller-coaster highs and lows were getting in the way of making work. He thought the drama was where his inspiration came from, but he was actually more prolific without it.
“That’s what I found out. The ideas come from you, not from the drink. It’s all about having the confidence to let go, and trust yourself. And not think you need this external stimulus to have an idea. Actually, now I’ve got much more energy to make them real!”
6. Work out
Go for a run, a swim, to the gym. Dance like a loon around your office. Get the endorphins flowing, and the work will often come easier afterwards.
7. Seek inspiration from others
Read something by a writer you love. Listen to great music (film sound-tracks were suggested by an artist friend, “because they take your mind elsewhere”). Look at a photo book, or visit a museum or gallery and see some good art. Watch a stimulating film or documentary.
Sometimes, that’s enough to get the juices flowing again. But you could also try writing/painting/singing in the style of what you’ve just read/seen/heard, to get you back into action.
Don’t worry too much about copying. You’ll quickly take off in a direction of your own.
I know a famous musician who often starts writing a new song with a riff or phrase taken from a song he loved in his teens. None of his finished tracks sound the slightest bit like the one he uses for initial inspiration. Indeed, he’s made more than ten albums, filled with original songs. None of which sound anything like the music he loved 20 years before.
8. Set a timer and just make anything
Set a timer for 15 minutes (or less, if you’re feeling really stuck). Then begin.
If you’re a writer, just keep your fingers on the keyboard or your pen moving across the page, even if the words are nonsense. A musician might just sing or play whatever comes into your head. Perhaps an artist or designer could just sketch something, even if it looks like a child’s drawing.
Sometimes, just getting out of our own way is all we need. We start work, giving ourselves permission to do it badly. To make a shitty first draft. And then we continue, and suddenly find that we’re doing it well.
9. Ask more empowering questions
When we’re blocked, we tend to spin out into disempowering variations on a theme of ‘What is wrong with me?’ or, ‘Why does this always happen to me?’
It doesn’t help. So try some better questions:
- What do I need, to move this forward?
- What can I do to get my mojo back?
- Who could I call, for help or inspiration?
- What would this look like, if it were easy/simple/fun?
- What worked last time I felt this way?
10. Wait until the very last minute
There’s nothing more motivating than a deadline. Whether it’s a school essay or a work project, we’ve all done this at some time or other, putting it off and then working through the night, to get it done just before it was due.
The problem is, adrenalin isn’t healthy fuel. You can use it every now and then, to get over your procrastination and perfectionism. But if you find yourself regularly putting off work till the very last moment, you’ll end up exhausted and burned out.
Dig deeper, and you’ll probably find fear in there somewhere. Fear of not being good enough, of failing, of pushing into unknown territory, creatively. It’s worth writing down those fears, and examining them rationally.
What’s the evidence? Is it true? Is there anyone who believes differently? And how would you work if you believed you were good enough, or that failing is how we learn?
Finally, what’s the worst that could happen if you do take a creative risk? And more to the point, what’s the worst that could happen if you don’t?
11. Get support
If you’re feeling tired, uninspired, stuck or empty, the last thing you want to do it turn to social media and start the whole process of compare and despair. Instead, contact your friends in real life. Hang out with fellow creatives. And you’ll soon find you’re not alone in feeling stuck at times.
Team up with friends who are also going through a dry spell, and cheer each other on. Ask friends and colleagues what they do to get their creativity flowing again. Be playful and curious, experiment and see what works for you.
Or of course you could always discuss it with a coach. It’s my job to hear the stories you’re telling yourself, to see how you’re getting in your own way, and gently help you rewrite the old scripts to make something more useful. If you’d like to experience coaching for yourself, I do a limited number of 90-minute sessions each month, for the special introductory price of £99.
Interested? Apply below.
What do you think?