4 ms·

Asking Artists: How Do You Overcome Creative Block?

14 points by jaybol 17y ago

mootothemax 17y ago
I remember when I studied music and regularly had to compose, well, anything. I found the best mix was to take some time away, go for a walk, a meal, a drink, anything, and then equally to sit down and compose anything no matter how awful. Clearing my head and then forcing myself to work turned out to be about the only thing that regularly fixed creative block for me.
msg 17y ago
Writer's block is caused by lack of information.
- eru 17y ago
  Anything to support that? What if you want to write fiction?
  - Qz 17y ago
    Simple: you don't have the information about what to write next. As a part-time fiction writer, I generally find the problem is about visualization. I may know what I want to write next, but if I can't see it, then I can't write it. But not everyone writes visually in the way I do. I find the best way to break past that is to go somewhere interesting, and then imagine my characters in a similarly interesting place.
Dylanfm 17y ago
When I was studying art, sometimes when I hit a block I'd choose to do what I thought I shouldn't do. It helped free me up a bit. Sometimes when things are going well it's nerve-racking - you could stuff it up. Making a small, intentional step in the wrong direction was liberating and came with mixed, but often good, results.
ivanzhao 17y ago
looking to the past.
raimondious 17y ago
I've never found anything better than a break from thinking about the subject at hand plus a long hard run. Something about the monotony and the exertion clears your head and lets creativity flow better. Here's something I thought of while on a treadmill http://www.flickr.com/photos/miura-ori/496920874 http://www.flickr.com/photos/miura-ori/496920874
TobiasCassell 17y ago
Bring up Amazon in another window and order Steven Pressfield's "War of Art" and just for kicks add Hugh Macleod's "Ignore Everybody"... The latter will put a spotlight on the counter-productive external forces at play that is causing you to grind to a halt. The former will so deliberately and decisively shame you out of your so-called 'writers block' that you will have no choice but to snap out of it... (Edit) Both books are about creativity. I used writers block in my post because writing is a common profession in the Arts. One book is written by an Artist, the other a writer- and in my opinion, both books will be helpful to any Artist. Including, of course, the Art of programming language..

14 points by jaybol 17y ago

I remember when I studied music and regularly had to compose, well, anything. I found the best mix was to take some time away, go for a walk, a meal, a drink, anything, and then equally to sit down and compose anything no matter how awful. Clearing my head and then forcing myself to work turned out to be about the only thing that regularly fixed creative block for me.

msg 17y ago

Writer's block is caused by lack of information.

eru 17y ago
Anything to support that? What if you want to write fiction?
- Qz 17y ago
  Simple: you don't have the information about what to write next. As a part-time fiction writer, I generally find the problem is about visualization. I may know what I want to write next, but if I can't see it, then I can't write it. But not everyone writes visually in the way I do. I find the best way to break past that is to go somewhere interesting, and then imagine my characters in a similarly interesting place.

Dylanfm 17y ago

When I was studying art, sometimes when I hit a block I'd choose to do what I thought I shouldn't do. It helped free me up a bit. Sometimes when things are going well it's nerve-racking - you could stuff it up. Making a small, intentional step in the wrong direction was liberating and came with mixed, but often good, results.

ivanzhao 17y ago

looking to the past.

raimondious 17y ago

I've never found anything better than a break from thinking about the subject at hand plus a long hard run. Something about the monotony and the exertion clears your head and lets creativity flow better. Here's something I thought of while on a treadmill http://www.flickr.com/photos/miura-ori/496920874 http://www.flickr.com/photos/miura-ori/496920874

TobiasCassell 17y ago

Bring up Amazon in another window and order Steven Pressfield's "War of Art" and just for kicks add Hugh Macleod's "Ignore Everybody"... The latter will put a spotlight on the counter-productive external forces at play that is causing you to grind to a halt. The former will so deliberately and decisively shame you out of your so-called 'writers block' that you will have no choice but to snap out of it... (Edit) Both books are about creativity. I used writers block in my post because writing is a common profession in the Arts. One book is written by an Artist, the other a writer- and in my opinion, both books will be helpful to any Artist. Including, of course, the Art of programming language..