Writer’s Block: A Cartoonist’s Guide
Writer’s block is going to happen, it’s just part of the deal. When things aren’t going well for me creatively I’m miserable at my drawing board and I’m miserable away from it.
Over the years I’ve tried several strategies to escape this no-man’s-land as quickly as possible. I share the following tactics in the hope a few will prove useful to other creative types.
1. Change of Venue
Lot’s of folks like working at cafes, but I have always preferred university and public libraries. I like being private in a public setting so I’ll choose a place where I’m not likely to run into people I know.
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2. The Studio
At home, it’s easy to fall into casual habits and get distracted by domestic chores. Sharing a space with other artists can make this option more affordable. In most cities there’s now co-working spaces that rent by the day, month, or year. For me, renting an office space is like buying a gym membership — if I don’t put it to use I’m wasting money.
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3. Self Sequester
Sometimes all I need is a jumpstart to get me going again—a big chunk of time with no distractions. Artists colonies are amazing but you have to plan for those far in advance. I’ll drive a few hours from home and stay in a cheap hotel for a few nights. My favorite place to go is a coastal or tourist town during the off-season. There’s something so haunting about these places when all the tourists leave that get my creative juices flowing.
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4. Digital Self Sequester
I find my iPhone the mother of all distractions. It’s frightening how this thing has eroded my attention span. I’ve tried everything from a 4 month internet fast to internet blocking software like Freedom. Realistically, the best I can hope for is to block it out for an hour a day. I love my phone but I hate my phone.
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5. Automatic Response
My natural impulse is to respond quickly to incoming messages. Setting up an automated response email makes me less anxious about getting back to people quickly—crucial for when I’m trying to get back on track creatively.
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6. Schedule
Out of everything on this list, this is what I find most effective. On the weeks I sit down and plan a schedule I am far more productive than the weeks I don’t. Without the schedule I’m at the mercy of competing demands.
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7. Timed Sessions
When I haven’t been working for a while it’s hard to sit still for long periods of time and concentrate. I feel like an over caffeinated monkey with ADD and it’s an effort to slowly build my attention span back up. I set a timer for as little as 15 minutes. Must. Cartoon. For. Fifteen. Minutes. Reset alarm. Repeat. I build up increments of time until I do not need the timer.
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8. Listen To The Work
I don’t know how many times I’ve gotten stuck on a project because I continue to force square blocks into round holes. I’m likely to crash into a writer’s block when I forget to let my project surprise me. “My Scary Bunny Dream” may not work as a children’s book, but might as an Instagram post.
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9. Throw It Away
Throwing something overboard makes me feel like a quitter/failure and the longer I’ve been working on it the harder it is to stop. Experience has taught me that abandoning one project liberates me for another. Goodbye sci-fi space opera, hello caveman romantic comedy!
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10. Remember the K.I.S.S. Rule
Keep It Simple Stupid. When I am stuck, I am usually better served by asking what I can remove from a piece rather than what should be added.
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11. Work Under Deadlines
Self-imposed deadlines don’t always cut it—but being accountable to someone else forces me to come through.
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12. Collaborate
Each collaboration has its own unique chemistry and brings out things in my work that are surprising. And again, when I am accountable to someone else it keeps me honest. A collaborator doesn’t have to be alive either— working with Aesop or Edgar Allen Poe has its advantages as they never complain about what I do with their material. Starting with a good story, even as a jumping off point, frees me from the burden of coming up with an “original” idea. I know my execution of the work is what will make it unique.
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13. Copy Someone
Copying a cartoonist I admire is a way to get my hand moving and jumpstart my drained battery with inspiration.
14. Step Outside Your Field
Sometimes I become myopic when in a creative rut. One antidote to this is engaging with art that’s outside my own field. Besides the potential for inspiration, I’m also less apt to compare my own work to whatever it is I’m experiencing (thus avoiding that adage “to compare is to despair”).
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15. Consult the Universe
For centuries the tarot cards have been consulted for insight and clarity. If I’m stuck on a project I’ll pull a card, and think about my work through the prism of its meaning. If “consult the universe” sounds too new-agey consider seeking advice from Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt’s Oblique Strategies. Introducing an element of chance in the creative process feels liberating—it reminds me that I am not in control.
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16. Exercise
I often succumb to this idea that I am too busy to exercise yet after a swim, basketball game, or long brisk walk I always feel refreshened. Why I always forget this is beyond me.
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17. Draw With Kids
I’m always invigorated drawing with kids—especially really young kids. They are so in the moment and really know how to let it fly!
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18 . The Two Project Solution
As a younger cartoonist, eager to leave my mark, I would put all my efforts into the one project I’d be working on. When I hit a block I’d pound my head on the block. I’d eventually muscle my way through it but looking back it was an inefficient and painful way to work.
Now, I always have at least two projects going on at once. When I’m no longer feeling it on one, I can hop over to the other. If I am working on a more heavy deliberate book I’ll also be working on a…
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19 . The Sketchbook
For me, cartooning are doodles that have to hit their mark and serve the purpose of a larger narrative. Doodling is more liberating as it isn’t just a means to an end. As a result, my sketchbooks become a jumble of both my most indulgent and inspired work. Sketchbook allows me to stay loose.
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20 . Make a Gift
The spirit of giving often brings joy to my creative practice. When I’m working on a book and the concerns of how my fellow cartoonists or potential publisher will judge the work I’m likely to lose steam. Suddenly the art making process becomes covetous: of praise, recognition, accomplishment. When I make a comic as a gift I’m brought back to the spirit I want to be working in.
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21. Walk Away
After I’ve tried everything, and I’m starting to loose my shit, I know I have to walk away. Einstein’s saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results resonates with me.
When I do step away from a project I try to make sure enough time has gone by that when I return I’m bringing fresh eyes. That can be a week, a month or even a year.
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22. Dare To Be Imperfect
My inner perfectionist can stop me in my tracks. I’d been meaning to illustrate this talk about writer’s block for a while but I never thought I had enough time to draw it “right.” Finally I just took my own advice and banged out all these drawings in a little over an afternoon in the spirit of “good enough.”
Ultimately, I take far more satisfaction in the comics I actually make—the good, the bad, the ugly—than the ones I only dream of.
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As a cartoonist making a list I can’t help but think of 22 Panels That Always Work so a tip of the pen to Wally Wood.
