Feeling unispired? Don’t let artist block or writers block get the best of you. You’ve got this! Here are some brainstorming techniques for you to try.
Art block can be frustrating. And we’ve all been there, whether you are a designer, a coder, a writer, an artist.
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Artist and writers block occurs because we are human and most people do not have the muse whispering into their ear 24/7. Creativity actually requires hardwork! It’s not easy to simply just wake up and have great ideas all the time. However, there are serveral things you can do about this!
Here are a few helpful ways that answer the question of how brainstorming can be implemented effectively.
Create idea boards
This can really help! When you find an inspirational post, be it a picture, quote, or something else, go and bookmark it, put it in a folder, pin it.
This way, when you are stuck, you can go look at all of the things that inspired you. You can create moodboards, or just have a chaotic mess of inspiration! Having good references also helps when you get to the actual creating process.
If you find yourself in a brainstorming mood, be sure to write those ideas down! Then you’ll have a great backlog for when you do not have any ideas.
I am currently using pinterest, though there is also Milanote which seems pretty neat.
Try reworking an old piece
This works for all mediums as well, though this picture applies to visual art. I’ve done this with poems and articles though, too.
Bampire on DeviantArt has this amazing thing.
I should probably do it again, to be honest!
Finish a piece you meant to long before
I happen to have a lot of projects that I still need to work on. Sometimes finishing an old project or repurposing it into a new project can be useful.
Do an art challenge / find some prompts
There’s a lot of these!
- I use this blog title generator when I cannot think of something to write about.
- I wrote about 218 things to draw in 2018 to help me if I ever got stuck; hopefully it can help you too!
- I made a shorter 2018 art challenge as well, though I targetted this for visual art.
Look at a tutorial and follow it
It’s always good to learn new skills. Sometimes finding a tutorial and doing it will give you inspiration, as well as a new technical skill or refinement to an existing skill you can use in your own work.
I have a lot of curated art resources, and I also recommend TutsPlus.
Keep a dream journal
Dreams are the closest thing we have to the mythical muse, honestly. Your brain goes crazy every night during REM, so you might as well take advantage of that, right?
I recommend keeping a journal of your dreams so you will remember them more easily each night. As soon as you wake up, try to remember what happened in your dream and try to write it down. If you forget, just write down as much as you remember.
Dreams are usually pretty inspiring, so defeinitely take advantage of them. I think a lot of famous works were inspired by dreams.
How to brainstorm — a demo
Sometimes, you might just want to sit down and do a brainstorming session. Can be a bit painful, but this is a useful thing.
- Think about a general idea. If you have problems with this, think about the type of media you usually create.
For example, I do nature related visual art and poetry. - Write down whatever comes to mind as quickly as possible. This is important. Try to ignore your inner voice that tells you your ideas are stupid.
For example: squirrel, chesnut, almond, almond milk, santa, holidays, reindeer, bells, antlers, woods, outdoors, minimal.
There we go, that was my actual thought process! - Weed out the ratch ones. Now I will pick the ideas I like best.
Also think about combining different ideas together. So hmm, I think I like reindeer with a chesnut pattern on the fur. Great. - Sometimes it’s useful to get other people’s feedback. A lot of readers like to be engaged in the creative process, so that’s a win win for you.
- Create. Now just make the content! Every day does not need to be some huge project. You can use little projects and combine them into something new later.
Here is another helpful article on effective brainstorming.
Look at the clouds
Or at any other random pattern. Chances are, your eyes will spot something. Or look around your living spaec and think hard about the tiny details in inanimate objects. That’s inspiring in a way lol.
Meditate or go exercise
It’s funny, sometimes trying to stop all your thoughts results in a reverse psychology moment of all these thoughts flowing into your head. Let them pass through, try not to focus on them.
Once you are done, you will have a clearer mind and also a bunch of ideas because you were trying to stop thinking. Works for me, even though it seems a bit counter intuitive.
I hope this helped! Thank you for reading!
What are you favorite ways to defeat writers or artists block?
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