When the Creative Fire Peters Out:

5 Strategies to Eliminate Creative Blocks

?You know the feeling…you’ve opened your laptop, ready create a brilliant solution to your client’s problem.

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Or start Chapter One of the Great American Novel.

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Or write the introduction for your article on “Best Ways to Cook Brussel Sprouts.”

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And then… Nothing.

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Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

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?That blank screen yawns like the great white whale, threatening to swallow you whole.

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For writers and creative people, there are few things more frightening than a creativity block. Especially when it feels like that block will never lift.

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The good news is that creativity blocks can be dislodged and overcome. And best of all, some simple practices can help you avoid them in the first place.

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Here are five incredibly useful ways to improve the creative flow: ?

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1.???Morning pages

Morning pages as described by Julia Cameron in her wonderful book,

The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, involve writing three pages – longhand, not on a computer or device - first thing in the morning. The assignment is to fill those three pages by writing without stopping, without edits, revisions, or corrections.

Here's the logic behind this strategy:

Imagine your brain is like a spray bottle.

The well of the bottle is your subconscious. It's full of ideas, solutions, memories… an abundance of information and inspiration. ?

The spray mechanism at the top of the bottle is your editor. The editor improves word choice, corrects spelling and grammar, revises sentence structure, changes the order of ideas, and so on. ?

When you try to write and edit at the same time, the ocean of inspiration so abundant in your subconscious is strangled by your editor.

Morning pages, done first thing when you are rested and your mind is fresh, help your brain to bypass the editor, allowing the ideas and inspiration to flow from your subconscious through your pen to the paper.

Much of what you write will be top of mind garbage, of course. But among those routine and mundane thoughts, fresh, brilliant jewels of inspiration will eventually appear.

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2.???Schedule a regular Artist’s Date

This suggestion, also from The Artist’s Way, is to make a weekly date to expose yourself to interesting and creative spaces. That might mean a trip to an antique store, a botanical garden, ?an art gallery…almost anything outside your regular routine spaces. ?

Exploring beautiful and different environments will open the windows of your mind, letting fresh ideas blow through.

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3.???Take a break?

When you are puzzling out a problem, it can be helpful to walk away for a bit.?

Literally take a walk, do the dishes, go for a swim. As Jim Kwik says, “When the body moves, the mind grooves.” ?

While you are moving, the elements of your project will be percolating in your brain.

Suddenly, the organization of an outline or the solution to a problem you haven't been able to fix will suddenly materialize while you are looking the other way.

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4.???Do something creative unrelated to your usual routine

Along the same lines, light the creative fire by relaxing with an artistic practice that you don’t usually do.?

Sing a song, draw a picture, borrow your kindergartener’s silly putty and mold it into a dinosaur. ?

You’ll find that a change in activity ?also revs up the creative process. ??

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5.???Manage stress

?Rick Hanson, Ph.d, a California-based neuropsychologist, says, “As ten-thousand studies have shown, when you are chronically stressed, you’re less able to be at your best. Particularly when you’re talking about a knowledge economy which really places a high premium on creativity.”

We often think creativity exists from the neck up, but optimum creativity depends on our physical well being. Regular sleep, exercise, and a healthy diet all impact our creative potential.

Experiment with all of these strategies or just cherry pick a few of them. ??

You’ll find days of the yawning blank screen are fewer and fewer.

You’ll have renewed confidence as your ability to access creative ideas increases. ?

You'll enjoy more productivity, and more peace of mind.

Here's to your creative future!