HOW TO OVERCOME CREATIVE BLOCK (Patreon)

I want to talk a little bit and answer a question that I get asked quite often, and that is: How do you overcome an artist’s block?

First of all, I want to say that I think this type of block is a universal experience, and even though artists, painters, writers, etc. are more likely to be affected by creative blocks, I believe it’s not specific to just creative professions.

My answer is I can deal with it in one of 2 ways:

• First way: I have to address what exactly is going on and probably take some time off (if I can afford it) to deal with the situation, recharge and move on. This way works if you know what caused these feelings; maybe you got harshly criticized or you didn't like something you've made before, you got burned out, or maybe there is something going on in your personal life right now that is stressing you out.. All these things can be addressed, resolved, and after that you’ll feel a sense of relief and you’ll be ready to get to work and create something awesome.

• Second approach is what I do when I’m stuck for no particular reason. It’s the most common artist’s block in my view, when you just don’t feel like doing anything creative, you simply don’t feel like. Well, what I’ve learned to do is I kind of force myself to do it, not in a mean way by the way, I just start doing something a little bit, one step at a time, I put myself in the position where I CAN find something interesting in what I’m doing again. And gradually I get new ideas and find inspiration, but without that first “push” to start, you will not find it; if you just sit around, motivation, inspiration, what-have-you - won’t come to you.

So, just start engaging into something creative a little bit at a time. It doesn’t have to feel like you’re really forcing yourself, you’re just convincing yourself to start doing something easy at first, even joyful, and then through this sort of low-threshold activity you’re more likely to get inspired, find a new exciting idea or the urge to create something.

I’ve heard a saying some time ago that goes pretty much like this: “If we wait until we’re ready, we may wait for the rest of our lives.” I think it’s true, and we just have to show up and get to that idea, or get to that new project, and get to about anything that we want to do with our lives in general.