Artist's/Writer's Block

Artist’s/Writer’s Block is one of my favorite topics. I don't much believe there is writer's block as we perceive it to be, and I dread it much less than I dread hypergraphia. Mark Twain reached a "block" while writing Huckleberry Finn, and simply put the book aside for a number of years-- and wrote other books! I believe it took him seven years to finish Huckleberry Finn. So his "block" was with regard to only one book. And keep in mind, he didn't worry about it-- "Ideas will come in time," he said.

As an artist, graphic designer, and occasional writer, I find that we can't always afford the luxury of being at a standstill by writer's block. We have deadlines to meet.

What I tell my students, and myself, is: "This is only one speed bump, but you have a whole life around you. Get on with life, and the work will come in time-- in fact, you're still a writer (artist) even though you are creating NOTHING!—even if you can't get out of bed that day—because everything you do makes you a better writer (or artist, or designer).”

Let me say that again in italics: everything you do makes you a better writer (or artist, or designer).

When you're stuck in bed, you experience the sensation of bedsheets, sunlight or moonlight filling the room, there are blankets to see and touch, a sitcom to watch, analyze, or criticize, a kitty to pet, or an insane wind coming up just outside your window. Sometimes you have vomiting to get through, or congestion, or chills and fever for hours: these are ALL sensations and observations that, whether you try or not, will remain with you and contribute to better creative work.

When there's no time to create-- when your day job demands overtime, when your kids need attention, when the trash has to go out, the grass has to be mowed, and tax forms must be completed-- when there are no more hours in the day, the week, the months... you are STILL becoming a better writer/artist.

Why? Because writing or art like many endeavors, is centered in who you are. So consider the difference between a teacher down with the flu, and a writer down with the flu: each will be affected and changed by the illness, and each will come back stronger in who they are because of it. The teacher will filter the illness through his teacher core. The writer will filter it through her writer core. Same illness, different filters.

My paintings get better (to me) whether or not I paint, because I get better: Every experience, feeling, discovery, observation, event in life continues to be filtered through my writer/artist core, and moves my art forward, whether or not I'm actually painting.

Writing and painting are mechanical skills. Of course each requires practice. But both are more than a skill-- they are also the ability to process our world through the mind and senses of our creative core.

When you reach what you imagine to be a writer's block, then set aside skills, put your book or painting away, and attend to the world; you will be growing as a writer/artist the whole time, and you will come back better for it. You will come back changed.

Will it solve your "problem" of being blocked? If you "believe in" writer's block then probably not. But the chances are very good that a new energy will come when you spend some time experiencing the world, solving puzzles, or come up against a deadline, but don't look for this to be a solution or cure for what ails you; it's giving necessary attention to the essential resources that fuel your creativity.