I’m serious.
It might sound a strange claim to make after having written an entire series on overcoming creative blocks, but there really is no such thing.
Think about it. Have you ever seen a creative block?
How big was it?
What colour was it?
How much did it weigh when you tried to pick it up?
Exactly. There’s nothing there. The ‘block’ is just a metaphor.
The block only exists in your mind.
It can become very real, if you let it. But it can also vanish in the blink of your mind’s eye.
Look back at every article in the series, and you’ll see I avoided putting labels on any of the creative blocks sent in by readers. That would just make the block appear real, and it is unreal.
Look again, and you’ll see that in every instance I encouraged people to stop thinking about having a block or what the block might be (let alone where it came from) and got them to look at what they were THINKING and DOING that was keeping them stuck.
Then we flipped it round and looked at options new things they could think and do, that might get them unstuck.
And that’s really all you need to do:
- STOP what you’re doing that keeps you stuck.
- START doing something different, that could get you unstuck.
And when you break it down into specific steps, it’s often not that hard to do each step. Sometimes the hardest thing is letting go of the image of the block or the identity of being blocked.
So next time you are tempted to say you have a ‘creative block’, stop and ask yourself:
Do I really?
Can I see it? Feel it? Touch it?
What am I thinking that is perpetuating the idea of the block?
What different thoughts could I start thinking right now?
What am I doing that is keeping me stuck?
What could I start doing differently, right now?
Get into the habit of asking these questions, and your days of being blocked could well be numbered…
What Do You Think?
Do you agree that creative blocks are all in the mind?
Have you ever thought you had an immovable block, only to discover it disappeared when you changed your approach?
What do you do when you think you might be blocked?
Mark McGuinness is a creative coach with over 15 years’ experience of helping people get past their creative blocks.
– Do you agree that creative blocks are all in the mind?
Indeed, I do. But I don’t think that means they’re not real. In fact, it means they’re *more* real. That said, I think the approach you recommend here for dealing with them sounds quite effective.
– Have you ever thought you had an immovable block, only to discover it disappeared when you changed your approach?
Yes, I’ve experienced that. I describe one instance of it in a post at my Demon Muse blog about the importance of and embracing your personal creative demon’s rhythm and timing: http://tinyurl.com/443xv8y
– What do you do when you think you might be blocked?
I understand creative block as a disconnect between the conscious and unconscious minds, “me” and my muse. Since I give utter primacy to my muse for the job of supplying creative inspiration / passion / direction / fire, and understand the sole job of the conscious me to be that of wisely choosing how to direct, shape, and implement that creative flow, this means I have to figure the source of the block is in me, that is, me-as-ego, my conscious, choosing self. I’ve somehow decided to work in a way, or approach working in a way, or even regard the work in a way, that my demon muse doesn’t like. So this is just another way of saying that I’ve veered off course and tried to go at a project in a way that’s not authentic to my true, deep self and mission. The cure is to “listen to the block,” as Victoria Nelson has helpfully put it. Exactly where, in what aspects of my approach, am I finding that I lose the thread of inspiration or find my sense of flow dying? At what stage or in what precise way am I going off the creative rails? The block will tell me exactly where I’m going wrong, if I’ll just listen. Creative block is just a means by which we in our deep selves protect our primary integrity.
Or at least this is the understanding of it that has proved most productive and affirming for me personally. Now that I think about it, it doesn’t really sound all that different in its primary principles from what you’ve described here, Mark!
Awesome, I love it when we get into the nature of reality. 😉
Great description Matt (as usual). I suspect we agree on ‘primary principles’ – and there are different ways of utilize them in order to get unstuck. Sometimes you go with the flow (of perceptions, beliefs, mental models) sometimes against – by challenging them.
I’ve found that switching off between different approaches makes it much easier to get through a creative block: sometimes I remind myself that since I like to eat, I’ve got to figure out *something.* Other times, I tell myself that I only have to work on a project for ten minutes. I’ve never found myself in a position where I absolutely cannot find a way to make progress on a creative project in any fashion.
🙂
Reminds me of Louis MacNeice:
I agree with you, Mark. “Creative block” are two words and that’s all. It’s not a real thing.
It’s interesting how we make up words for things that don’t exist. “Sweet tooth” is another example. It’s not real, but people say they have one so they can label/justify/validate behavior.
As for creative work, I recently heard someone say (it might have been Liz Gilbert) that it comes in many ways. Some seems to come from the ethers, flowing through us onto the page, canvas, etc., and some emerges only when we pull it out of ourselves (I use the visual of pulling as one does a rope in sail rigging, hand over hand).
I find it helpful to think of it that way sometimes, when I’m at my keyboard – I remind myself that I’m in control, pretty much the same way I am, say, when I’m on my bike on a steep hill. There’s only one way I can get to the top: one pedal stroke at a time, and there’s only one person (me) who can make each stoke happen. it’s just brute force. it’s the opposite of an easy day, the kind we have sometimes, but not often. Most days, for most of us, we have to rely on our own power.
Great post. Thanks. 🙂
Susan
I like Gurdjieff’s take on this – he said higher powers are always ready to help us, lowering down ladders, but we have to lift ourselves up to catch the bottom rungs.
and yet creative block as are very real in as much as we experience them. But largely we numb ourselves to the depth of what we actually experiencing. We all experience blocks differently.
The questions you ask
How big was it?
What colour was it?
How much did it weigh when you tried to pick it up?
are actually spectacular questions to ask.
There is a technique to getting rid of a head ache that works more often than it doesn’t that uses a similar format…
Where is the headache (its placement in depth and height)?
What shape is it? (note any textures as well as shape)
How big is it? (compare to known objects)
How much does it weigh?
What is its temperature?
What color is it?
drink a cup of water slowly and do it again and see if anything has changed.
Assume that the block is real and actually find out its particular nuances might be a different tack to take rather just saying “it isn’t real”.
Monsters lurking in the dark aren’t real either but they terrorize children all the same. The monster is for all intent and purpose 100% real. Same for creative blocks.
Thoughts?
Thanks Matthew, I love your perspective and suggestions.
I’ve actually used those questions (including the headache ones) in the way you describe, many times with clients. Working with people’s perceptions (including metaphors) and teasing out their nuances is a great way to facilitate change.
And… there are also times for challenging their perceptions, to shake things up and open the door to alternatives. This post was written with those times in mind.
Interesting take, Mark. I agree with your approach that there’s no such thing as creative block–I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, because I’m doing a solo NaNoWriMo (www.nanowrimo.com ; it’s usually in November but we’ve got a child due then) and I can’t afford to not be very creative every day as I write.
To me, there’s an element of momentum that plays into creative productivity or “blocks.” Keeping creative work in mind by frontloading or brainstorming or stopping artfully while it’s going good can keep your subconscious chewing on the project while you do other daily duties. This momentum can keep the creative energy more active, rather than partitioning it off from the rest of your life. That partitioning is behind what a lot of people think of as “blocks,” to me.
Interesting, helpful stuff, Mark! As always. Thanks.
I definitely think momentum is one of the best ways to push through a creative block – or at least the blocks don’t com so often once you’ve built up some momentum. The first day back writing after a break can be a bit slow, but by the fourth or fifth it seems to go much smoother.
That would make a great tagline for a business card. 😉
Mark:
I completely agree with you.
There is no such thing as a creative block. It’s all in the mind. If you believe that it exists then it does. If you don’t believe that it exists then it doesn’t.
I used to think that creative blocks exist. Now my thinking has changed most especially when I see how professionals do their work.
It’s all about being exposed to the right information. And that is why getting a mentor or following the footsteps of someone who has done it and is still doing it is so important.
Cheers,
Sam Lab.
Yes, one of the great things about a really good mentor is they don’t mind showing you how they got stuck (and unstuck) themselves once upon a time. They are living proof it can be done!
I have always felt that preoccupation with creative block and inner critics is debilitating. In some circles people love to explore this presumed aspect of themselves just as in other circles people are fixated on their weight (always too high) or their abs (never toned enough) or their wrinkles (too there). I have known highly creative and highly productive people who burn themselves out burning the candle at both ends and then, burned out, lament that they have a creative block or lack of inspiration. They are just tired and that feeling is well earned!
Taking a break is okay! If I feel like I don’t have anything in me at the moment, I take it as a sign of needing a good night’s sleep or a break until the next day, a break including a nice walk in the park, admiration of the trees, and smiles for the dogs.
Sometimes a really huge effort has just ended, and some creative people expect to be able to jump into something new, different, and special immediately. Maybe a couple of days off would be an excellent investment.
Nicely put! I’ll have to remember that phrase for those days when I’ve been overdoing it. 🙂
Mark: Another quick comment to tell you that this post inspired me to write this one: http://bit.ly/qo9S3C , which I just published. Thanks! Susan
Am I the only one drawing a connection between creative blocks and Resistance as described by Steven Pressfield? Creative block being simply another form of resistance. Hmm…
//sami
Resistance is clearly linked to blocks. But you can experience Resistance without it blocking you – Steve tells me he experiences it on a daily basis, and look how much he produces! I guess you could say a block happens when Resistance gets the better of you.
And as a poet I feel compelled to point out that, just like ‘blocks’, ‘Resistance’ is in fact a metaphor. 🙂
Agree with lots of the comments here. Sometimes all it needs is a change of scenery or activity to jog me out of a rut (time to go do some errands or take a notebook to the park). Other times if I’m finding it hard to write, it is a sign I’ve not done enough thinking yet, and what I thought was an idea ready to go was only actually half-formed.
But there’s also the relationship of creative work to the rest of life. There are only so many critical decisions you can make in a day, and if real life issues are demanding a lot decision-making, it does impact on the depth of creative work that becomes possible. Conversely, when I’m deep in productive mode on a major project, I find I stop having opinions about pretty much anything else. Of course, when I don’t know what to have for dinner, that doesn’t get labelled as a ‘block’!