Jan 13 2010
breaking block(head)s (discussion time!)
What is the most clever, weird, or innovative way you’ve gotten yourself unstuck from a major creative project?
Are there ideas for getting over a stuck spot that you’ve thought up but didn’t actually try? Was it because of fear/insecurities or other reasons for not following through?
What hurdle-hopper tricks in your repertoire consistently work? Do you know why?
What do you feel are the resources most lacking in your creative toolbox (at this time) for keeping your motivational drive moving consistently?
What in your current creative support structure (if you feel you have one) would you most like to see change, and why? What do you feel is rockingly awesome about your creative support network right now?
Pick one or more of these to answer and let’s chat!
1. Hehe, working on it now.
2. Not that I can think of. If I think of something to try that might help me move forward on a project, and nothing I can think of is likely to cause harm to other projects by trying it, then I’ll give it a go. I don’t have much difficulty laying down a plan that isn’t working if I can think up a different direction to try, or even trying multiple concurrent alterations.
3. Flexibility is one of my main assets. I consistently change variables to try to ensure that my ability to write isn’t dependent on an eccentric and arbitrary collection of necessary factors and conditions. The more I’m willing to consider other approaches to trying something than the ones I already know about or am comfortable with, the more pliable my mind stays, and thus more likely to get creative thoughts thunk.
4. I think most of my current struggles are largely still related to recovery and healing from a traumatic year. It certainly feels like the blocks and writing sludge times are connected to available mental and emotional energy, not in a failure in the story or accessing creativity. Put another way, I don’t feel like I’ve run out of words to write or that I’ve lost my story, but that there’s something in the physical/mental/emotional current state of the Reesa-being that is slowing down the process. While I’d like this to improve faster than it is, on one level, most of me knows that healing is best done at ITS own pace, so there are lots of opportunities to practice self-patience–and it IS improving.
5. I’m fairly pleased with my current creative circle of support. I’d say that probably the main change I’d make is to bring back more shared “writing dates”, where two or more people are getting together to both work on their own writing projects and to brainstorm ideas, discuss hurdles, etc with other writers. I like more general “creative dates”, where non-writer artists bring their own projects to work on in a group creative atmosphere, but I also enjoy the specifics of multiple writers actively discussing various bits about writing that geek them.
OK, I did my turn, now for the rest of you!