Creativity Blocked? 5 Sources to Alleviate the Pressure
You have all your materials ready — research, music, and a sign that says “DO NOT ENTER” — and you’re just waiting for inspiration to strike. Nothing? You go through your usual sources of inspiration well items and five hours later, random Wikipedia articles read and multiple retweets from Twitter and still nothing? Has it gotten to the point where you look at your computer like this?
We’ve all been there. You’re ready to go but inspiration hasn’t hit you so you’re staring at a blank piece of paper or a blank screen willing something to show up. I try to find something else to do until my procrastination hits a new high and I have to force myself to create something.
I’m a nerd for books on creativity or artists’ thought processes. I find that reading about someone else’s thoughts on the subject help with finding new ways of beating creator’s block or a new approach of looking at how things function in the world. I admit these books are catered more to a designer, but I firmly believe that the lessons taught in these can be transferred to other career fields.
Take ownership of who you are: Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered by Austin Kleon
If you’ve heard of Austin Kleon, it’s probably from his other book, Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative, but Show Your Work! is a gem. In Kleon’s book, he focuses on holding yourself accountable with what you’re creating. You have to tell people you’re a designer/developer/etc. and take ownership of that identity. You have to open up about your process through sharing sketches or works in progress. You have to teach others what you’ve learned. By doing all these things, you’ll find yourself showing others and fighting that pesky imposter syndrome that likes to rear its ugly head when it’s not welcome.
Take a bad situation and make it work: Make Good Art by Neil Gaiman
Make Good Art comes from the 2012 commencement speech Gaiman delivered at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and later adapted into a book designed by Chip Kidd.
I love to listen or read this speech whenever my block becomes a bit too much. Gaiman encourages taking the negative thrown your way and creating art to try to make the situation better. He tells everyone to “do what only you can do best” if it’s drawing, painting, writing, or in our case, web development. You are the only person who can do what you do and at your level of doing.
When you feel awkward about asking for help: The Art of Asking, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help by Amanda Palmer
Based on her 2013 TED talk, Amanda Palmer illustrates what she wants to impart on her audience. Acting like a memoir but also a self-help book (it’s shelves in that area in Barnes & Noble), she explains how she found asking for help, be it through controversial Kickstarter campaigns or couchsurfing through fans’ homes, is beneficial with creating a community. When you ask someone for help with props or their person, you’re bringing them into your work (which creates a sort of accountability). In past photographic work, I’ve put out Facebook statuses with calls for models. My friends have come to help and a final project utilized resources my friends had like a steamer trunk, a truck, and even fake blood.
When you like to go it alone/minimal help: Rebel Without a Crew, or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker with $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player by Robert Rodriguez
Maybe you’re not the type of person to ask for help. That’s fine. Perhaps you’re the type of person who likes to see what you have and work from there. I think you’ll enjoy Robert Rodriguez’s Rebel Without a Crew where he details the work he did on his feature film El Mariachi that he funded by participating in a medical study and filmed in such a way that film wasn’t wasted and he had complete control (if you look at any his movies, a director’s credit is the first in a long list of duties he has). He believes a filmmaker can make a highly creative film without a budget because the screenplay they’re working with was created around a zero budget. With this mindset, problems have to be fixed through some creativity and not by throwing money into it.
When in doubt about your abilities: Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky
How do you know your potential without seeing what others have done before you? In Women in Science, Rachel Ignotofsky gives quick summaries of 50 awesome and talented women and their accomplishments. Don’t let the “childish” design stop you from reading this book. The first time I read this book I was floored by the beautiful design and inspired by the stories told. A lot of the women mentioned I had never heard of or I knew what they contributed but never heard they were the ones to be the pioneers. It was amazing to see how much we owe to these underrepresented women.
There are other sources out there to kick a creative block, but the ones listed above are my go-tos for any time I really don’t know what I should do next.
