Reader Question: What to do when you feel out of touch with creative energy?
Reflections and tips about when you’re feeling blue creatively.
A question from Julian Edmund:
Scott, I’ve been reading your blog. I’ve been feeling out of touch with my creative energy as of late.Tell me, does this happen to you at all?
And how do you get through it?
Julian, that is a great question and I’m sure the entire GITS community (myself included) appreciates you having the honesty and courage to ask it.
In answer to your question, do I ever feel out of touch my creative energy: The answer is a decided yes. Sometimes writing is the last thing in the world I want to do.
Anything. Else. But. Writing. Please!
How to get through it?
First, consider this. You know how when you’re standing at the end of a long line, say at the post office or grocery store? Then when someone gets in line behind you, you feel better? It’s not like your wait is going to be any shorter, rather it’s a comfort knowing someone else is going to suffer like you? Well, there’s a certain amount of comfort that can be found in realizing that virtually all writers, indeed, all creative types suffer from occasional bouts of ennui.
In other words, feeling down in the dumps creatively is not unique to you or me.
Personally a great resource in this regard is a book called “Songwriters on Songwriting.” [I’ve written songs since I was 14]. When I read an interview with Paul Simon, Carole King, or Burt Bacharach, and learn that they have periods of time where they simply can’t write a decent song, even moments where they think they’ve actually lost their creativity, it makes me realize we’re all in the same boat.
I’ll bet if you go through the dozens of interviews with writers I’ve got archived on this site, you’ll find plenty of them who say the same thing.
So first thing: Really try to absorb the fact that all creative types suffer through periods of inspirational malaise.
A second thing I’ll do is ‘rattle my cage.’ This can take many shapes — anything from reversing my writing schedule (instead of writing at night, which is my natural instinct, I’ll write in the morning), go for a weekend away to commune with nature, or blind typing before every writing session — but the idea is to shake up my routine and by doing so hopefully break me out of my doldrums.
I wrote about this as a “Dumb Little Writing Tricks That Work”: Get Un-Comfortable.
A third thing is to watch some great movies. Or read great scripts. Or lose myself in a great book. For me, there’s nothing more inspirational than seeing or reading a great story well told. It’s uplifting spiritually and creatively.
Be sure not to overlook an obvious consideration: Do you have a strong emotional connection to the story you’re writing? The simple fact that a writer feels a strong resonance with a story is usually enough to help pull them through tough creative times. If you’re not feeling inspired, Julian, perhaps it’s because you’re really not all that into the story you’ve chosen. Why not explore writing another story?
GITS readers, what say ye? Do you ever go into a creative funk? If so, how do you deal with it? Let’s see if we can’t come up with some solutions for Julian — and anybody else who might be flagging creatively just now.
