Creative block - how do you deal with it?

[kbg32]

Sometimes we enter a phase of suspension. Doubt sets in and we begin to question. Why does this happen? Sometimes things don’t go as planned or we don’t get to where we want to be fast enough. It could be many other things as well. We all have our belief systems. Quite possibly the tools that get us somewhere don’t work to further our travels, our vision. Not the tool of the camera, but the tool of our psyche, our vision. We step back. We feel lost. We take note of what is going on. We know things have to change, but we’re stuck. We look for answers. We have to keep working though. Inactivity will lead to a possible suspension of creativity, a furthering of ideas, a black hole.

I know enough to put one foot in front of the other. Eye to camera to see, to discover. Is that something something new? Have I seen that before? I read. I look. I listen. I absorb, think, and empty myself. A process I repeat continuously.

What do you do?

 

[aizan]

it happens because you're faced with difficult and important issues. the only thing you can do is analyze and research those issues and come up with an answer. it's a fantastic creative opportunity. make sure to do other hobbies, give yourself some space to turn your mind off.

 

[Sparrow]

... get a job that your salary is dependant on your creativity, and a mortgage that is dependant on your job.

 

[kbg32]

it happens because you're faced with difficult and important issues. the only thing you can do is analyze and research those issues and come up with an answer. it's a fantastic creative opportunity. make sure to do other hobbies, give yourself some space to turn your mind off.

Exactly what I'm doing now. This isn't the first time I've faced this.

Thanks Aizan.

 

[f16sunshine]

Often for me a "creative block" is from a lack of external forces. If there is nothing pulling my imagination I tend to go back to old habits. Habits that may not be bad or unimaginative from another's point of view but rather, old hat for me and therefore feeling uninspired. Right now I'm taking a break from "creative photography" and focusing on other artistic adventures. The camera is out often but more as a journaling tool. It's nice.

 

[Hsg]

Frustration with a creative activity like photography means that one is blocked from moving forward - that is why its called creative block.

The problem is not from lack of creativity the problem is the goal that one tries to reach and feels blocked from reaching it.

If you have a goal in photography and you feel blocked from reaching it, you need to carefully look at that goal and see if its a realistic goal.

With photography unlike painting one does not start from nothing, the world is out there and pointing a camera at it and clicking does not require 'creativity', it just requires energy and the willingness to point the camera at the world.

 

[kbg32]

I believe the part of my "block" has to do with a presentation of my work I am to give in a month's time. An overview to the present. In putting together the presentation, I am facing certain personal issues from my past that I had dealt with at various times within my work. To give a proper presentation, I have to somehow speak of these issues which are painful. It is only the recent past that I finally figured out what certain things meant. As well, I need to continue with my work. Unfortunately, history can't be ignored.

 

[Sparrow]

Frustration with a creative activity like photography means that one is blocked from moving forward - that is why its called creative block.

The problem is not from lack of creativity the problem is the goal that one tries to reach and feels blocked from reaching it.

If you have a goal in photography and you feel blocked from reaching it, you need to carefully look at that goal and see if its a realistic goal.

With photography unlike painting one does not start from nothing, the world is out there and pointing a camera at it and clicking does not require 'creativity', it just requires energy and the willingness to point the camera at the world.

Those sound like rules to me ... and as we know you can't mean that. So what would you was a 'realistic goal' then? ... and as just pointing a camera at the world and clicking does not require 'creativity' would it have no value?

 

[Dave Jenkins]

I like Larry Bird's advice: "Shoot till you hit, then shoot till you miss, then shoot till you hit again."

 

[Cameron]

What do I do?

I rely on time. Whether or not that's beneficial, I can't answer -- but it usually works. Sometimes, with photography, I don't want to shoot, and I don't want to carry a camera around my neck. I always want to make good images, and I always want to be able to remember, but sometimes there's a creative block. "What am I doing this for?" That question pops in my head a lot, and I doubt myself. But in a few days, a week, a month, or however long it takes, I find myself with a camera around my neck and wanting to create. Taking time off, whether it be a hobby or something else, proves useful to me. To be able to take a step back, get the idea off of your mind, and then come back to analyze your previous work and why you felt that way is a powerful motivator.

But then again, maybe I'm just lazy.

 

[Sparrow]

Larry Bird? ... didn't he play of Accrington Stanley?

 

[Cameron]

Larry Bird? ... didn't he play of Accrington Stanley?

I believe the Larry Bird he's referring to was the famous NBA player; he played for the Boston Celtics.

 

[rhl-oregon]

This analogy may be helpful. It's the understanding of 'writers block' I accepted or rather adjusted to in my writing life:

You have reached a plateau where your critical /technical conception of the work exceeds your sense of discovery, anticipation, apprension, unresolved tension. To create involves some element of suprising yourself at a level below what can be articulated. In some way, you need to find a subject or approach that involves starting anew. No preconceptions; tabula rasa; exploration of unknowns in a spirit of unknowing. R. Frost put it this way: No surprise for the writer? Then no surprise for the reader.

I don't have any prescriptions for anyone else in this craft, but I'm sure a number of possibilities will occur to people. Focus on objects, not people; focus on people, not landscapes; focus on blur, not sharpness; put down your spray+pray digital and learn 4x5 the hard way....

Sometimes the answer is agricultural: let the field lie fallow, let it rest. Don't force it to grow anything. Go to the desert where farming is an alien activity, and consider how life unfolds and time passes in an environment where all you know about farming will make nothing grow. Instead, something inside you will adjust to that, and grow.

 

[Calzone]

... get a job that your salary is dependant on your creativity, and a mortgage that is dependant on your job.

Stewart,

For me the above is just the opposite. I would hate to waste my creativity on earning money. Also to me a mortgage would be a burden and also a liability.

Call me a lazy slacker, but being a lazy carefree slacker to me is a great enabler for my creativity.

I know too many artists that expend all their creativity and problem solving at their job to earn money, and the result is their art suffers. Energy and creativity is a resource. Give me the boring day job anyday so I can hoard all my creativity for myself.

BTW I have no shortage of crazy ideas to pursue... That definately would be different if I owned a home.

Cal

 

[kbg32]

This analogy may be helpful. It's the understanding of 'writers block' I accepted or rather adjusted to in my writing life:

You have reached a plateau where your critical /technical conception of the work exceeds your sense of discovery, anticipation, apprension, unresolved tension. To create involves some element of suprising yourself at a level below what can be articulated. In some way, you need to find a subject or approach that involves starting anew. No preconceptions; tabula rasa; exploration of unknowns in a spirit of unknowing. R. Frost put it this way: No surprise for the writer? Then no surprise for the reader.

I don't have any prescriptions for anyone else in this craft, but I'm sure a number of possibilities will occur to people. Focus on objects, not people; focus on people, not landscapes; focus on blur, not sharpness; put down your spray+pray digital and learn 4x5 the hard way....

Sometimes the answer is agricultural: let the field lie fallow, let it rest. Don't force it to grow anything. Go to the desert where farming is an alien activity, and consider how life unfolds and time passes in an environment where all you know about farming will make nothing grow. Instead, something inside you will adjust to that, and grow.

Thank you Robert.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

ah ... they employ really tall photographers then ... that's very commendable

... although is that relevant? ... really?

In basketball, shooting means throwing the ball at the basket to try to score. Larry Bird (who was from Indiana) was saying that the way to become good at basketball was to practice. A lot. That's true of photography, and most other skills as well.

 

[rhl-oregon]

...my pleasure, Keith. In writing, I benefited from some good mentors (some live, many dead) and many trial/error experiments that resulted in changed consciousness benefits, or successful results measured by publications, awards, etc. and can look back far enough, decade-wise, to distinguish results from flailing among distractions.

In photography, though, I have a hard enough time reminding myself that it's not about accumulating tools or toys, even when there have been good results as side effects of GAS. (Ditto with guitars & amps ;-p).

 

[mfogiel]

One of the "unexpected" places to look for creative ideas, is your subconscious. To make it work for you more efficiently, you could try meditation. There are specific forms of meditation that focus on creative thinking. Look up Headspace, but I'm sure there is a lot of free stuff on the net too.
On a side note, it also helps speaking to a 4 year old every now and then. When they make questions, you really have to focus hard on the answers, and sometimes you realise your opinions have changed over time. You can then follow these clues.

 

[Sparrow]

Stewart,

For me the above is just the opposite. I would hate to waste my creativity on earning money. Also to me a mortgage would be a burden and also a liability.

Call me a lazy slacker, but being a lazy carefree slacker to me is a great enabler for my creativity.

I know too many artists that expend all their creativity and problem solving at thire job to earn money, and the result is their art suffers. Energy and creativity is a resource. Give me the boring day job anyday so I can hoard all my creativity for myself.

BTW I have no shortage of crazy ideas to pursue... That definately would be different if I owned a home.

Cal

... really? ... how do you support your art then?

 

[kbg32]

One of the "unexpected" places to look for creative ideas, is your subconscious. To make it work for you more efficiently, you could try meditation. There are specific forms of meditation that focus on creative thinking. Look up Headspace, but I'm sure there is a lot of free stuff on the net too.
On a side note, it also helps speaking to a 4 year old every now and then. When they make questions, you really have to focus hard on the answers, and sometimes you realise your opinions have changed over time. You can then follow these clues.

I have a 6 year old Marek, sometimes going on 16, so I know exactly what you're talking about!