Breaking through the creativity block
Published: Wed, 01/30/19
Why is writing hard? Or any other creative endeavor for that matter? Three main problems affect me when I want to be creative. It might be that I can’t think of anything to say. Or, it might be that I don’t have the self-discipline to sit down and actually write. Or, it could be that there is an emotional block or turmoil that makes creative expression seem impossible. Any one of these three factors will prevent creative work.
So, what to do about it? Accept that there is a process going on which you need to engage with. A process of three things which I need to list but listing itself is highly misleading. Whichever thing I put first will seem to have priority and this may not be the case at all. The creative process involves a combination of creative thought, disciplined action and emotional engagement. I have just listed thought, action and emotion in that order. The first problem we have with creativity is that we may come into the process on any of these three points and then need to engage the other two to complete the piece of work.
Take writing a message to this list, six to nine hundred words and I have been doing it for nearly five years so it should not be difficult. But the challenge varies every time I think about creating one of these messages. Sometimes I find it hard to make the time to sit down and complete the process of writing, checking what I have written, then posting it to the email list and linking the archive version to the Facebook groups, mine and, often, Scott Hansen’s Northern California Stav Group.
Sometimes the problem is thinking of something appropriate to write. Sometimes I just feel reluctant to put an idea out there, even though the readership is self-selected to be interested and sympathetic. So, how can I overcome my resistance to writing?
The first thing to say is that in order to write I have to confront the problem that is presenting itself. Is it lack of an idea? Lack of disciplined action? Or emotional reluctance? The actual difficultly needs to be acknowledged with compassion and then challenged by engaging the other two elements.
I may have a great idea and really want to write about it. In that case I have to have the determination to physically sit down and write, even if it means getting up early or going to bed a bit late.
I may have an idea and time and facility to write but be feeling reluctant to express myself. Best response there is just to give myself permission not to post the result immediately, so I will write a piece and then save it for the next day. If I am not emotionally sure about committing myself to something then I always sleep on it if I possibly can. The next morning I will read the piece, I might be quite happy with it, I might realise that it needs some amendments I will make them or, occasionally, I might realise that I was right not to send it at all and just write something else.
Thirdly, I might be sat at the computer, keen to write but with no idea what I should write about. The best thing to do then is to just start but recognise that the first sentence, and probably the first paragraph, will have to be deleted later. Once one sentence has come it is rare that I can’t write a whole post, although I will almost certainly have edited out the first paragraph.
The best part about this process? You will never escape having to engage with thought, action and emotion but the more you do it the faster and more effortless the process becomes. Until it isn’t, and writer’s block strikes again. But that is okay because you know what to do, honor the aspect causing resistance, and use the other two aspects to see you through.
I am focusing on writing here as an example but this process applies to anything you want to achieve in life, from something as basic as cooking a meal to a project as monumental as building something like the Humber Bridge.
regards
Graham
PS A good way of engaging with the challenge of writing is to sign up for some kind of programme. I am on day three of Megan Macado’s four week writing challenge. For the purpose of the exercise I have created a blog I have called ‘Principles Based Martial Arts’. My first three pieces have looked at how I got started with martial arts a great many years ago, you can find it here if you want to find out more about my mis-spent youth http://pbma.iceandfire.org/