Artist's/Writer's Block

[StoryOfMyLife]

I don't know if there is a thread on this already or not. [My apologies if there is ].

I seem to have an issue with getting 'stuck' when it comes to my writing or drawing. They are both something I have enjoyed since I was a child and sometimes I get this incredible urge to draw something fantastic, or to grab one of my notebooks or open up MS Office and let my imagination put down the bits of story inside my head. The problem is, lately I've been having a hard time finding my muses [yes, I have two of them. One for art, one for writing. They rarely like to visit me simultaneously which is a problem for somebody trying to create a Japanese styled comic which requires both story and visuals ]. I think they have tried to fly the coop, so to speak. I know they are there, hanging on by a thread and I've been working to 'reel them in'.

When I get the urge to write, I can't pinpoint any idea. I try to go back to a work in progress and am immediately put off the project because it seems that isn't what it is I wanted to work on. Opening several at once to see which one jumps out at me hasn't worked either. I then become disinterested again...reading books used to help put me into a writing mood, though that hasn't been working too much, either. I'm about at my wits' end here...

As for drawing, I've got the urge to create something wonderful. I had a few attempts at it yesterday and the day before and nothing has worked out. It becomes rather discouraging as undaunted by my 'failed attempts' as I've tried to be. Music was playing, I was in a pretty good mood, and I checked out some other pictures in hopes to find inspiration. Alas... I gave up after four hours or so of trying.

The yearning is still here. Any suggestions? Advice? Or stories of frustration to share?

 

[Valiant]

I just have a piece of advice, which you may and may not choose to listen to.
If you want to write something good and emotional, you will probably need to be in some kind of depression. Love-induced depression always does it. Both because being in love with someone that doesn't want you back always makes people all poetic, and that there are tons of people out there that loves to read that kind of crap.


I can't write anything good right now, it seems. I'm neither depressed nor lonely. Maybe if I got locked up in jail or something? That would make me want to escape reality and conjure my own shit!

Wasn't that a weird "get rich" plan?

But seriously... I'd be able to do much good from the insides of a prison. There wouldn't be a lot of distractions all the time... Like having a job, a girlfriend, cooking, cleaning... Well, the only thing would be to try and avoid being someones girlfriend.

 

[Domino]

Story - you could be speaking right from my own mind. I was just telling Sis last night that I never feel more real or alive than when I'm writing (or drawing, though I find drawing to be a truly stressful birthing situation...). Writing is my passion. I've been experiencing a great deal of frustration with it though... I can create ambient scenes and people that breathe, but plot? Stringing that together is beyond difficult for me; I'm so people centered that I can't narrow the focus.

I wish I had the money to take a writing class so I can get past this.

 

[Kyrielle]

I don't know if there is a thread on this already or not. [My apologies if there is ].

I seem to have an issue with getting 'stuck' when it comes to my writing or drawing. They are both something I have enjoyed since I was a child and sometimes I get this incredible urge to draw something fantastic, or to grab one of my notebooks or open up MS Office and let my imagination put down the bits of story inside my head. The problem is, lately I've been having a hard time finding my muses [yes, I have two of them. One for art, one for writing. They rarely like to visit me simultaneously which is a problem for somebody trying to create a Japanese styled comic which requires both story and visuals ]. I think they have tried to fly the coop, so to speak. I know they are there, hanging on by a thread and I've been working to 'reel them in'.

When I get the urge to write, I can't pinpoint any idea. I try to go back to a work in progress and am immediately put off the project because it seems that isn't what it is I wanted to work on. Opening several at once to see which one jumps out at me hasn't worked either. I then become disinterested again...reading books used to help put me into a writing mood, though that hasn't been working too much, either. I'm about at my wits' end here...

As for drawing, I've got the urge to create something wonderful. I had a few attempts at it yesterday and the day before and nothing has worked out. It becomes rather discouraging as undaunted by my 'failed attempts' as I've tried to be. Music was playing, I was in a pretty good mood, and I checked out some other pictures in hopes to find inspiration. Alas... I gave up after four hours or so of trying.

The yearning is still here. Any suggestions? Advice? Or stories of frustration to share?

Yeah, you've pretty much pinpointed my main problem in creating things for myself. I have the same exact issues. Sometimes, it just helps to start writing/drawing something--anything--regardless if it's good or not. It helps to get the process started, at least. Though most stuff I try to make for myself is never finished.

 

[nomadic]

ummm... not sure if it applies to drawing, art. but when i need inspiration for ideas, i think location and environment are huge.

i notice i get a lot more ideas when i am in the bay area, than down here. almost like a 3 to one ratio... maybe more... i'd imagine hawaii would be good too... for art?

trying to analyze it, i think the light airy vibe puts me into some connection with my surroundings, and everything starts to click, and then latent thoughts come out, and it starts to transform into analogies, parallels, insights... etc.

 

[StoryOfMyLife]

I just have a piece of advice, which you may and may not choose to listen to.
If you want to write something good and emotional, you will probably need to be in some kind of depression.

Actually, that seems to be when I draw strange things, rather than write it. Well, sometimes. When I write it turns out to be something like this:

Then Sometimes

..I don't feel like myself
trapped in this empty shell
coexisting beside a soul
unfamiliar and not my own.


Taking in stride what life
throws at me, this strife
the problems, the heartache
of what I lack, it's too late.

On shameful days I fold in
upon myself, embraced by sin
keeping vigil, these lying eyes
just don't understand the compromise
of sacrifice and unconditional love
for my heart being held above
someone better than what I offer
from me, myself, and I, there's no profit.

Stifled tears that just don't fall
though I ache, smiling through it all
despite my pain, secretive; hidden;
stored within, suffering unbidden.

Can't, won't, should'a, could'a
would'a- familiararity but I
don't skip a beat, I stand on
these two feet, still pretending
it's never ending, a vicious cycle
with no light at the end of the
tunnel, and reversal to my progress,
wait- I digress, a slow regression,
my passion and my poison I consume
sealed fate, destiny, my doom.

:/ not very 'happy like' and it's a downer in my eyes. I don't like to write when I'm feeling depressed, but sometimes it does help me to just vent my emotions and thoughts.

When I'm pissed off or in a negative mood and am drawing, this happens:

Dark, isn't it? >.> And cynical, really. *lol*

I wish I had the money to take a writing class so I can get past this.

I've entertained the thought of a writing class as well. I find, thinking about it, that I wrote the most fluidly when I was still in high school. I gained a lot of inspiration from the literature in my English class. My teachers were also great at motivating and encouraging me. While I don't actively seek praise for my work, it definitely did help to have that constant feedback. Not just saying that it is 'good', but when I had that constructive criticism pointing out where I'm strong and where I need some work. It can be applied not just to essays [which I tended to write in story form anyhow. My teachers loved that idea for some reason... ] but to almost any form of structured writing. I can do it well enough for others, but when it comes to my own work I find I'm too hard on myself and that alone will discourage me. A writing class would be wonderful. Can't afford it either, though.

Yeah, you've pretty much pinpointed my main problem in creating things for myself. I have the same exact issues. Sometimes, it just helps to start writing/drawing something--anything--regardless if it's good or not. It helps to get the process started, at least. Though most stuff I try to make for myself is never finished.

I sympathize there. Mostly my written work lays about unfinished. Annoying, isn't it? *lol* I don't know if it's a fear of completing something or what-- for me, anyhow. I've always felt this elation when I've completed a story, but then it's followed up by a strange sadness. Like I miss working on it. I wonder sometimes if that puts me off of finishing what I have started. The most reasonable answer is that I've just got too many ideas to be able to finish all of them. I get so far on one before another thought comes to mind and I must get it down before it escapes me.

ummm... not sure if it applies to drawing, art. but when i need inspiration for ideas, i think location and environment are huge.

I think it applies well here. I'm thinking of the cliché vision of artists painting on easels on some balcony overlooking a majestic city. Environment may have a LOT to do with it. Somewhere too enclosed or not well-lit enough could serve as a living metaphor for feeling too stifled-- physically, mentally, emotionally--- creatively. I have made a sort of connotation that where I currently live I do not feel as creative as I used to feel when I lived in a more positive situation. Though I tend to become distracted when attempting to draw outdoors on a nice day *lol* It does lend a nice, freeing sensation...a change of scenery. Perhaps that is what I need Though that alone is difficult at the moment. I have to somehow improve current conditions or improvise with what I've got.

 

[Domino]

I need to get sis and Tallulah in here - they're both great with poetry forms....

I find NFJ lit/art tends to have quite a bit of a dark cast to it, though never oppressive (at least not in my opinion). I'm full of shadows myself and none of them pose a threat. Friendly ghosts, you might call them.

That poor heart has taken a beating!! *pats it* *gets the hammer to pull out the nails* *band-aids*

I tend to draw when I've submarined, so my art work shows it, even when I don't mean for it too.

 

[Thursday]

walk away from it - allow it and you top breathe.
don't come back unless you get a good urge.

 

[StoryOfMyLife]

^The more the merrier!

I tend to lean towards the darker styles of writing though it really depends on if I feel that way or not. However, I find it easier for my words to flow when there is a certain amount of angst or morbidity to the story I'm telling. Some kind of odd pleasure or something is derived from it all, I don't know. I do enjoy writing 'happy lighter' things, as well, though any of my poetry circles the dark side of the moon more often than not. I think that's why I stopped writing it so often. [That and I was writing about what I'd never experienced myself, so I thought I was a fraudulent poet *lol*].

The heart...I think I was aiming for irony. The title is 'Love' though it seems to show all of the negative aspects of the emotion. I've never actually been totally in love with somebody- don't think I've ever given myself the opportunity- so I suppose it could be a fraudulent picture as well *lol* But it was just how I felt at the time. *shrugs* so I went with it...

Maybe just talking about this sort of thing is making it easier to pull forth inspiration. My fingers are tingling in that artsy 'give me a pencil and paper now!' kind of way. I think there's actually an image trying to birth itself in my head. Hmm...

 

[GinKuusouka]

I've been stuck on my latest story. God knows what it's going to end up being if I stick with it. It's one of the activities that I do between classes on Wednesdays when I'm bored. I listen to my music at times and just try to go with the flow of the images in my head. Me thinks I need to go back and redo some of it. Add more detail and whatnot.

Perhaps writing out your frustrations in whatever form they manifest might help you out. To each their own, however I don't know that it could actually hurt.

 

[BlueScreen]

ummm... not sure if it applies to drawing, art. but when i need inspiration for ideas, i think location and environment are huge.

i notice i get a lot more ideas when i am in the bay area, than down here. almost like a 3 to one ratio... maybe more... i'd imagine hawaii would be good too... for art?

trying to analyze it, i think the light airy vibe puts me into some connection with my surroundings, and everything starts to click, and then latent thoughts come out, and it starts to transform into analogies, parallels, insights... etc.

Yeh, my brain switches on near the sea too. I think it is that we feel more calm and relaxed, there are less other things to notice and it is more silent. And when that happens our brain switches off the surroundings and onto thinking, and the flow of thoughts doesn't stop.

 

[StoryOfMyLife]

Yeh, my brain switches on near the sea too. I think it is that we feel more calm and relaxed, there are less other things to notice and it is more silent. And when that happens our brain switches off the surroundings and onto thinking, and the flow of thoughts doesn't stop.

I must thank you for this 'of the sea' talk. It actually gave me an idea for a picture. And I'm in the process of drawing it now.

Idea!
Since this is a thread about having blocked creativity, maybe we can post works in progress here and get encouragement from others? Just a thought...

Does anybody ever have difficulties with angles or perspective on certain poses? I found this site which I love with every new picture I work on...

Hands for Drawing - Posemaniacs.com

 

[GargoylesLegacy]

Artist's/Writer's Block Artist's/Writer's Block

Hm, unfortunately I have never been stuck before - well, not really at least - BUT I heard Panflute-Music is helping. IDK, you'd have to try. ^^°

 

[cherchair]

I find I get stuck in a story when one of two things occur: 1) the character from whose POV I'm writing is in a place I don't want to go or 2) the emotional energy I've been pouring into the story is being taken up by a situation IRL.

Both these conditions have existed for the last month or so, but yesterday during a physical therapy session, which involves physical pain and a great deal of effort, I suddenly saw where the story was going and got motivated to write again. I think it was the distraction of the physical stuff that allowed the story to come flowing back in. So what am I doing here instead of working on the story? Well, I still have that little problem of not wanting to get inside the head of the character from whose POV I'm writing. Been there/done that and don't want to go back there at the moment.

BTW, I've never found writing classes particularly useful--I've taken several--but writers' workshops where I'm immersed in writing for a week at a time and away from the distractions of home can be a real boost. They're also a great place to network, not only with other writers but with editors and agents as well.

 

[BlueScreen]

I must thank you for this 'of the sea' talk. It actually gave me an idea for a picture. And I'm in the process of drawing it now.

Cool . Happy to help!

 

[SillySapienne]

Foruming is the only style of writing for which I never experience writer's block.

For everything else in my life, both creative and academic, I will go through experiences of block and flow.

My initial stance on this was you cannot force the flow, but, after taking a really incredible writing workshop I have come to realize that there are relaxation methods and ways to work *nonjudgmentally* during initially, meh, moods, do conjure up some pretty decent work.

 

[StoryOfMyLife]

The 'idea' which dawned upon me with all of the 'by the sea' and 'Hawaii' talk *lol* [ignore the sketchiness of it all, I've yet to clean it up and color and make it pretty-like].

Foruming is the only style of writing for which I never experience writer's block.

I think foruming and sometimes role-playing are the only times I don't have a lot of difficulty with the flow of writing. It's strange to me, but I guess there's not anything blocking my creativity-- or there is no need to be super-creative while foruming because all I'm doing is asking questions or answering somebody else...guess it doesn't require as much thought, depending on the subject. Role-play sometimes helped put me in a creative-writing mood, however, I tend to overdo it to the point where by the time I'm through, all of my creativity has gone to the RP rather than to a story.

 

[FFF]

What is fishing girl doing with her right hand fingers? Put your own fingers like that and see how it feels. Oh, I get it, it's a gang symbol. She be gangsta.

Other than that it's an interesting little picture... kinda cartoonish.

 

[nightning]

If you're still stuck, try the "no-reading" week. Essentially you avoid reading anything that written by somebody else.

I wrote up some junk on my experiences with it in my blog...
In Response - The reset button: how to find your own inspirations

 

[StoryOfMyLife]

What is fishing girl doing with her right hand fingers? Put your own fingers like that and see how it feels. Oh, I get it, it's a gang symbol. She be gangsta.

Other than that it's an interesting little picture... kinda cartoonish.

*embarrassingly...* 'Fishing girl' is actually a young bishounen boy [which means 'pretty boy' in Japanese terminology]

The fingers are awkward, I know. What you can't see is the bit of fishing line that he is looking up at, and the ends are supposed to be pinched between the fingers of both hands [my scanner didn't pick it up, I drew it too lightly ]. I always have issues drawing hand positions, even with references, though try to correct most of my mistakes before the final work is completed...

"Cartoonish" ...I prefer the term 'anime-ish'? lol [or if you like, cartoon works too...] but it's still an art form..