HOW TO AVOID CREATIVE BLOCK
Hello, earthlings! This is writer LeandroVSilva®, and in this post we’ll talk about creative block. How do you avoid creative block?
Creative block is a very complex topic to discuss, because many different factors lead to it.
So I’ll share my own experience here: what happened to me and what I’ve observed in the careers of other writers, artists and comic creators. Block isn’t only about creating stories, but also about creating art, illustrations and paintings in general. And not only that: it’s also related to marketing. Because when you run an ad, there’s the creative, the artwork that grabs attention in your ad.
So the whole process related to creation and imagination can be affected by creative block. We’ll talk about it based on my experience and on what I’ve observed in other writers and artists, and I’ll share the solution that has been working for me and for the people I’ve observed.
Block hit me with my first book. When I started writing, I had the core concept of the story and developed it as ideas came. This type of writer is the gardener. Nothing against it, since some people do very well with this process, but most of those who had creative block, like I did, were gardeners, because we depended on inspiration striking, and it didn’t always come when we wanted.
After that, I started planning everything: outlining the whole story and knowing where to take it. I became an architect writer.
After that, I was never hit by block again, and combined with the habit of always writing down ideas and keeping an idea bank, block became even more distant.
So if you’re a gardener writer, try becoming an architect and see whether the block persists. If it does, come back here and leave a comment, because as I said, different situations lead to block, and by sharing your experience we’ll look for a solution together.
Now, for the artists.
For those who run out of ideas about what to draw, this has more to do with not having the habit of collecting references and working from them.
Mix references and create a new one. Always test things. For example, for backgrounds, take a screenshot of a place on Google Maps and work from it.
References from anime, other paintings, the world around you: mix it all until you create something you find interesting and different to develop.
Planning and working from references have been great solutions for block, but as I said, there are many different situations, so share yours and let’s look for solutions, because your block may be the block of many other writers or artists.
