Cracking Creative Blocks: Clues for Content Strategists

In 2013, I felt like I hit a creative wall in my career as a musician. I suppose it's something we all come across frequently, especially when our work revolves around the art of creating. However, this challenge compelled me to seek new ways to overcome it and find inspiration.

As a content strategist, I firmly believe that we can look outside our discipline for inspiration and ideas too. Every creative wall we hit is temporary and we have to look beyond content sometimes to help us break through and crack our creative block we might be experiencing.

The NYC Music Scene

I had spent almost a decade building a music career in the highly competitive scene of New York. I had played in dream concerts and shared the stage with my favorite artists at some of the city's most prestigious venues. Yet, despite all the success, I felt a creative void within me, which made me question the lack of opportunities for many other brilliant artists in the music scene. Moreover, considering New York's status as the most multicultural city in the world, I felt a lack of musical integration between cultures.

Often, we remain within our own circles, which, in my opinion, limits us creatively. Therefore, I wanted to give myself the opportunity to connect with other communities of artists and cultures and create a project that would broaden the canvas of creativity for New York's music scene. Of course, taking risks was necessary.

The 21 Concept

I have always been curious about numerology, the study of numbers and their powerful symbolic meanings, and during that time, the number 21 appeared frequently. This number is associated with rebirth and transformation. It represents the end of one cycle and the beginning of a new one, much like how I felt at that moment.

That's why I decided to create the project I called '21'. The idea was to form 21 new bands in 21 consecutive days and introduce them to the world through creative videos over the course of 21 days.

With a small yet powerful production team, we brought together musicians from different cultures who were meeting and playing together for the first time. The challenge was that they didn't know each other and didn't necessarily share the same musical language, which could have resulted in something wonderful—or a complete failure.??

The Leap of Faith

The initial challenge for me was getting the musicians to agree to be part of this experimental project.?I explained my vision of the importance of integrating our cultures and having a space to freely create new music without fear.

Instead of receiving rejections, I gained the support of many musicians from the New York community. They saw '21' as a space where musicians could be their authentic selves, leave their zone of comfort and connect with the city's diverse cultures.

Once the musicians were assembled, we documented their encounters and the musical improvisations that took place over 21 consecutive days, one band per day. The recorded material was released on the same day.

There was no discussion about the music. We simply played.

In the end we ended up collaborating with a total of 43 musicians from 20 countries into the project. (View full video playlist here>>)

Personal Growth

This project was a masterful learning experience for me because many beautiful things that followed?were a result of '21' acting as a springboard. We brought the series to many other countries and expanded our video series to bring visibility to artists in marginalized communities.

This was a profound shift in thinking for me. Now I see moments of stagnation and blocks as way to creative, personal and musical growth.?

View Full 21 Series Playlist Below:

What key insights can content strategists glean from this?

Here’s a few observations to set the stage for creative thinking and what helped me unlock the 21 project.?

• Sufficient time to dream up new ideas is critical. ?As content strategists we must have adequate time to envision new ideas, to understand the client’s needs and then reflect on creative solutions. Only then are we able to provide sound advice and guidance. This might include brainstorming sessions, doodling, free-writing, or engaging in a different art form altogether. These exercises can help shift our perspective and open up new avenues of creativity.
• Creative risks and leaps of faith are essential.? Today we are in the midst of so much change happening, and in order to evolve in our careers and our work with clients, we need to have more conversations as a community around how to advance with the changing landscape. This means understanding and taking risks too. It begins with conversations on how we push the boundaries of our craft, how we collectively keep our competitive edge and provide a space for compelling thought leadership.
• Authentic content with intention and purpose can be timeless.? Let’s not lose sight of the value of well crafted content with a strategic purpose that can yield greater long-term benefits compared to chasing short-term victories. Authentic content can act as a trampoline for a brand trust, engagement, differentiation, improved brand awareness, better customer relationships, and higher conversion rates. This is content that requires a deeper commitment to write and produce, but it is built to last and will likely have more relevance in the long term.
• Workshop your ideas with a few trusted friends or colleagues. You can call on someone to serve as a sounding board, someone you can rely on for feedback and guidance. Additionally, you can find someone to brainstorm with, a collaborator who can help generate ideas and explore different perspectives. This is vital for refining and fleshing ideas that have not fully formulated in your mind.

So, don't lose faith when you encounter a creative block. Instead, embrace it as a sign of resistance, a positive indication. It signifies the need to explore your inner self and take steps to create the right conditions to conquer it.