Tag: creative mind

A Different Approach to Art Block

Art Block Illustration

There are various names for this phenomenon — writer’s block, creative block, or art block. I made a list a while back with some suggestions if you have this problem. Today I’ll show you a different approach with an exercise.

This exercise includes a) different steps you do in a relaxed body position, b) mental imagery exercises, and c) a visualization of your art block.

It can also help you solve daily creative problems in your work. For example, if you get stuck on a project and don’t know what to do. That’s why I will test and do this exercise myself too.

I have adapted this exercise so you can do it alone, as it is usually done with a therapist who guides you. This means that I will change this exercise over time with feedback.

What Can Help With Art Block?

There is evidence that vivid daydreaming helps with a creative block. That’s why we do an exercise that enhances this.

We all know when we go for a walk with a problem in our mind, we find the solution before we even come back from the walk. In this sense, daydreaming can help us when we have this issue.

But how can we deliberately start this daydreaming? Of course, we can encourage it by doing nothing and letting our thoughts run free. By doing something other than our creative work and thus letting daydreaming take its course. Or just do something else, like Kness did when she had art block. Or we can apply this solution with an exercise, which encourages daydreaming. As a result, it helps with our creative block.

One part of the exercise is a series of mental imagery exercises that form the basis of the Creative Imagination Scale. I’ll give you this part of the exercise in short, there is a link below for more details.

The Concept of The Mental Imagery Exercise

There are 10 parts to the exercise. Here’s an overview of these parts (the actionable and adapted exercise is further below).

  1. Arm Heaviness
    • Think about how your arms are getting heavier.
  2. Hand Levitation
    • Think about how your arms are getting lighter.
  3. Finger Anesthesia
    • Imagine your fingers going numb.
  4. Water “Hallucination”
    • Imagine drinking cool refreshing water.
  5. Olfactory-Gustatory “Hallucination”
    • Think about how you perceive the taste and smell of an orange.
  6. Music “Hallucination”
    • Listen to music in your mind that you heard the other day.
  7. Temperature “Hallucination”
    • Imagine your arms getting warm.
  8. Time Distortion
    • Try to slow down time with your thoughts.
  9. Age Regression
    • Imagine going back in time, e.g. childhood.
  10. Mind-Body Relaxation
    • Try to relax your mind and body.

The Problem With This Exercise

And what’s the problem? A therapist should guide you through this whole exercise, while you are in a relaxed state. It is quite difficult to do with no therapist around. Hence, we’re going to change it up a bit and do it ourselves!

Go through the mental imagery exercise before you start it, preferably writing it down, and try to imagine how you do every point of this. Look for personal examples such as point 8 “Time Distortion”. When is the moment in time you will imagine? Then try to remember these points as best as you can.

If you do the exercise and forget a few things, don’t worry! It’s not a problem at all. If you do the exercise over and over again, you will memorize everything and incorporate the forgotten things.

The Exercise Against Art Block

Remember this exercise and then let’s do this!

  1. Sit in a dark room with your eyes closed and focus on relaxing your body and mind.
  2. Now describe to yourself the contents of your ongoing thoughts and fantasies.
  3. Do the mental image exercises as mentioned. No more than 1.5 minutes for each exercise.
    1. Arm Heaviness
    2. Hand Levitation
    3. Finger Anesthesia
    4. Water “Hallucination”
    5. Olfactory-Gustatory “Hallucination”
    6. Music “Hallucination”
    7. Temperature “Hallucination”
    8. Time Distortion
    9. Age Regression
    10. Mind-Body Relaxation
  4. Now visualize or otherwise experience the elements of your current creative work. Imagine your creative block. What do you want to work on right now? What are the problems and solutions to this? How do you move on?
  5. Come back to reality. Stretch your limbs. Breathe deeply. Open your eyes.

Repeat this daily for two weeks or more. You can do this as a ritual before doing (or trying to do) any creative work.

Conclusion

While there are many ways to tackle a creative block, I am trying to give you a new, evidence-based approach. I have adapted this exercise for you to do on your own, so we need more evidence to see if it works without help. If you have someone to help you, you could use the real exercise down at the sources.

Because this is a work in progress and I’ll continue to adjust the exercise after feedback. So, if you do the exercise for a while, it would be super nice if you could send me your feedback! I will adapt and improve the exercise so that it is even more applicable and can help you.

Sources

Mental imaginary exercises from the Creative Imagination Scale https://hypnosisandsuggestion.org/

Singer, J. L., & Barrios, M. V. (2009). Writer’s block and blocked writers: Using natural imagery to enhance creativity. In S. B. Kaufman & J. C. Kaufman (Eds.), The psychology of creative writing  (pp. 225–246). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511627101.016

Barber, T. X., & Wilson, S. C. (1978). The Barber Suggestibility Scale and the Creative Imagination Scale: Experimental and clinical applications. The American journal of clinical hypnosis, 21(2-3), 84–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.1978.10403966

📩 Free Composition Guide 📩

Join my quirky newsletter for my free Composition Compendium, jolly updates, and other helpful stuff! Every three months (or so)!

4 Mistakes That Cause a Creative Void in Your Mind

Creative Void Illustration

You take the time to create something. Something from your creative mind. But unfortunately, you sit there, in front of this yawning emptiness and your head is completely empty. You have no idea what to do. You still know how to do it. You want to, but you just can’t. Sometimes there are no ideas, other times there is an invisible resistance that you can’t overcome. Your mind is in a creative void. And you need to get out of there.

What many creative people don’t know is that we make mistakes that can create this situation. In this article, I’ll show you four mistakes you may be making and give solutions on how to prevent these errors.

1. You haven’t started yet

Nothing comes from nothing. Often we stand in front of our work and don’t know what to do because we don’t dare to start. But what stops us from just starting something? It doesn’t have to be the finished idea we are working on. A little warm-up exercise can help us get in the mood for creative work. Start with anything! It doesn’t matter what. When you draw, draw something you see in front of you. If you don’t know what to photograph, photograph the first thing you see. Get into the flow of things, get dirty, start! Only then can the creativity come and the ideas that you need for your project.

2. You put too much pressure on yourself

Let’s face it: you haven’t started yet and you’re already worried what you’re doing won’t turn out well. Push those thoughts aside and try to see the journey of your work as the goal, not the end result itself. You are doing it because you enjoy the process, not just to see the finished product. Think of what you are doing as a thing you can learn from and improve upon.

3. You don’t experiment

Sometimes it helps to just let go and experiment. Do something you’ve never done before. May it be a new technique or a different material. Use this to find something that can enhance your normal work. This way you can start with something without putting pressure on yourself and get into the flow of working on something creative.

I once tried to draw only with brushes. In the end, I worked for over a year with a brush and learned important things that I still use in my work today.

4. You have no plan

This creative void often has something to do with the fact that we don’t know what we are doing. What exactly do we want to do and why? Create a plan for it. Are you doing this just to have fun? Then write down what exactly you enjoy doing and apply it to your work. Is it the motivation to learn something new? Then think about what exactly you need to learn and how to do it. You can also plan a whole project that can last weeks or months. That way you always have an idea of what you can do.

I’m working on a comic book in my spare time where I have almost everything planned out. I just have to execute the whole thing, so to speak. That’s why I don’t have any problems with this creative void – most of the time at least – because I know exactly what my goal is and what I have to do for it.

Conclusion

Try to avoid one mistake after another so that the creative void doesn’t stand a chance! Never overextend yourself and don’t feel bad if it doesn’t work out. Changes and improvements need time. Therefore take it!