Working through creative blocks

*WARNING*UNSOLICITED ADVICE*

"Reverb" wallpaper by Bradbury & Bradbury Art Wallpapers

 

 Whether creative or productive, if you're like me, you don't have time to waste on a block. Here's advice I've given and received over the years!

1. Plan ahead Whether it's your day, your weekend, or your next six months, you should plan ahead. Your plans will always change of course, but knowing what's on your horizon helps. Sometimes you feel overwhelmed or stressed out because you have so much to do... but when you map it out and take things one step at a time, it's easier to see how you can get everything done, and on time.
2. Productive procrastination Can't work on something that's due soon? Work on something else. If you've already done #1, can you work on something due in three months? Might not help today, but you'll be loving yourself in three months. Get other things done off your to do list? If nothing else, clean your bathroom. I've spent entire weekends ticking everything off a to do list, adding to the to do list, and ticking those things off. Arriving at Sunday night with literally nothing left to do but the thing I was avoiding... but nothing hanging over my head preventing me from moving ahead. In the space of project planning, jot down your ideas informally or formally. This means when you need a fleshed out idea for a class or a publisher, you may have two or three in the bank.
3. Push push push In my screenwriting class, a classmate of mine who I'd been in another class beforehand with was frozen. He hated Final Draft software and couldn't move past his idea to scriptwriting. I encouraged him to just open up the software and just start writing anything. I'd seen him do the work before and reminded him he could. We talked through his ideas, and he had plenty to go on. Indecision or inaction can be debilitating and sometimes you need to "Push, push, push" (which is a line from one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes, "Next Stop, Willoughby").
4. Phone a friend Are you in school? In a writers group? Got friends from a convention? Get to know who you're sympatico with. Be there for those people when you can be, and don't be afraid to call them. Finding such people is work--because writing or school wise, you don't click with everyone or even all your friends. But a creative partner can be really helpful, especially to encourage you through your bad times.
5. Get out of your head (or into it) Take a walk, go to a pub alone, stare off into space. I was meeting a friend recently for dinner. I was ten minutes early, and she was 40 minutes late. So I cracked open my sketchbook and started writing down ideas for a project I am developing. It was all there, but my daily routine, my job, and other projects were competing for my attention. But alone, without creative distraction or competition, I was able to work through several ideas really quickly.
6. Try it your way Another friend of mine from screenwriting class, who I also knew to be a great writer, was also struggling. She had never written a script before, and couldn't get her head into it. I suggested she write it as a short story first. Soon after she started the short story version, she easily jumped over to Final Draft and started in writing the script. I sketch a lot to work through blocks, even when there is no visual element, like a radio/podcast play. As a visual artist, this always helps me get my head into a project.
7. Step away Jose Villarubia once told me an important part of the creative process is stepping away from it. This may contradict the other advice, but sometimes it's the only thing that helps. Decompressing, recharging the way you do best, and accumulating new ideas by living in the world can always inspire and motivate.
8. Take your own advice This can be the most difficult of all! My wheels have been spinning on my thesis project lately, but I've manage to employ #s 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 until the only other option was #3... based on #8. Follow that?

Good luck with your projects! I am always happy to hear other tips and tricks.