21/11/2018

Overcome the creative block

By coworkingspain

If you have come to this article hoping to find a vaccine against creative blockage, I am sorry to tell you that it has not yet been invented, and believe me I have searched for it. What I will give you is an antidote to turn to when this blocking situation takes over you. Because it happens to all of us and when we assume that this will be the case, the more prepared we are to be successful, and above all as soon as possible. It is something cyclical, inevitable, and much more common than we would like.


It has been the main theme in hundreds of articles, and great authors already dedicated their ink to the feared creative blockade. The great Bukowski revealed to us a great truth: “The creative block is never totally impassable, especially with the right tools.” We may be resisted at first, and we will ask ourselves so many things: “Why me and why? Now, what do I do? ”But speaking of questions, if when we ask them, the answers do not arrive, I am clear… Change the questions!

That said, the creative blockage would be the temporary loss of the ability to create, create something original and novel, for this we need ideas, and these require our full attention. Therefore, our first advice would be to cover the most basic needs, things that we postpone due to the pressure of concluding as soon as possible the mission of achieving the perfect idea. If you are sleepy, rest, and if you are hungry, pause and eat, I even recommend that you try to make this recipe that you really wanted to try.

And with this we spin what would be our second advice, inspiration can come at any time, and do things that you are not used to and that leave your comfort zone, is the perfect exercise for your brain in its blocking phase it clears in the most creative way, and together you start working hand in hand, in the purest brainstorming style.

The famous illustrator Marc Johns suggested turning off perfectionism and writing absolutely all the ideas we have. It is paradoxical, since the word idea is usually associated in our mind with that light bulb that suddenly lights up on us. Well, that's right, most of the ideas are discarded before they get consolidated. And what in principle can be absurd later can become the key piece of a meaningless puzzle. Do not demand too much, write, everything that comes to your mind, dedicate the same time, without discrimination. The problem may be that we are struggling to achieve that perfect idea that solves all our problems, without realizing that what will solve it is a sum of all of them.

Our main enemy in these types of situations is obstinacy, that is, to maintain an excessively firm idea or opinion, generally unwise and without considering another possibility. Do not cling to the first idea, you are much more capable than all that. When you need new content, consume it instead of generating it. That said, our advice would be that you don't have ideas as a writer, as a painter or as a designer, that's right, we encourage you to pretend to be someone else, put yourself in the role of someone who doesn't know about the subject, forget about the technical part, and ask yourself what would you think if you didn't know all that, that occupies your mind, that blocks it and that ultimately does not let you move forward. It can even be fun, and you may even discover your true vocation, who knows?

It will seem crazy to you, but ignorance is bold. It is free of barriers and especially fear of error. So if you are in that blocking spiral, I wish you to be ignorant with less fear and with the best ideas in the world.