Are you stuck? Had a falling out with your creative muse?
an autumn leaf falling, photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplahs
I certainly have and, from what I’ve read on blogs and social media, a fair number of people have been hung high-and-dry by their brainstorming brainchild.
My art of choice is writing. A novel in particular, which I’ve been working on a long while. Think years, not months, certainly NOT days! To wrangle 96,000+ words into a reader-friendly story? That’s a process, and I’m not the world’s quickest learner.
After May, when my crit partners and I finished pointing out praises and failures in each other’s manuscripts, I’m well aware of my novel’s shortcomings and other places within my story that I’m dissatisfied with.
A GOAL
In July, I signed up for a writer’s weeklong workshop, my first in-person since 2015. * The workshop will be held this fall. Excitement! It spurred me to get at my revisions.
Except…where to start, how to do it?
BARRIERS
My story was in rough shape after the critiques. I had eliminated some chapters, combined others, and tried to make my plot thread more obvious. Large and clunky chops and splices.
Then, of course, other commitments and issues and needs piled on. Between writing a report, a leaky hot water heater, visits with long-distance family, and abundant garden veggies that needed picking, cooking, sharing; pickling, blanching, freezing… my story stalled.
BEWARE! THE GAP
When I did have space? No budging. My inspiration gone, I had no clue what to tackle next.
I did worksheets… here… and there … When a blog article triggered thoughts.
Finally, aware that it’d been a while since I’d looked at the story as a whole I just read it. As a reader.
CUE: THE INNER JUDGE
That inner judge. Some of us have an extremely harsh judge who takes good aim at us (or is it just me?) personally calling us names: lazy, good-for-nothing, you suck, or even a string of swear words.
I’ve encountered this inner judge before and I’ve learned what needs to be done.
“Stop behaving like this. Look, now the child is crying.”
Then set limits, once again, on the judge’s role: criticize the words in the story. Not me the writer. Not me the person.
How have you moved beyond being stymied, stonewalled, stumped, stranded?
WAYS to FREE CREATIVITY
Pause
green hills and mist in Wharariki Beach, New Zealand photo by Boon Panthalany on Unsplash
Take a pause, some space—planned or not—to gain distance from what’s created.
Hang onto discipline. Continue learning. Read about writing tools. Pay attention.
One article invited writers to envision a desired future and write it down.
Another author wrote about just walking away from the story. (Though I think they meant only for an hour or so, not a month!)
Two books landed in my hands, The Artist’s Way and Writing Down the Bones, both of which recommend morning pages, daily pages.
If needed, remind the harsh judge of their boundaries. Relax. Let go of being uptight about a time goal (unless there’s an agreed deadline with another person/organization).
mountains, lake, and reflection of mountains in lake, photo by Ivana Cajina on Unsplash
Breathe
In and out.
In. And out.
In and. Out.
Close eyes. Notice: sounds and smells, touch and taste.
Gratitude
Give thanks. With a grateful heart. For an imaginative mind. For our interiority.
For the minuteness of our bodies, which inherit the elements of and mimic the Milky Way galaxy.
Create
Being a creative, for me, began again by getting back to basics:
Writing morning pages. Nothing to do with my story, but it moved me out of my crabbiness.
Work on story pitch. (from Kristen Lamb’s blog)
Do an “xray” of the bones of my story. (from Tiffany Yate Martin’s book, Intuitive Editing.)
Place the new pieces in the story manuscript itself.
two doors, side-by-side, one in shades of red and yellow with a green tree, the other in shades of blue photo by Luis Alfonso Orellana on Unsplash
One day at a time. One step at a time. One door at a time.
When you’re stuck, how do you free your creativity?
Let us know your tactics!