How to tackle Creative Slumps!
- Camsmila
- May 10, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 23, 2022
When you want to write a story, no matter it's format, the most important thing is the initial idea, the foundation of the story itself, which later on will transform into a whole narrative. Sometimes our mind feels super creative and ideas flow naturally from our brain to the paper, but what to do when this doesn't happen? What to do when you have a creative slump?
First things first. This happens all the time and it's normal. You can't be inspired all the time and slumps can come into your creative life at any moment. I know the struggle first hand, which is why I decided to create a short list of what you can do to come up with an idea, whenever you feel you have no creative power.
Where to find ideas?
Brainstorming!
Ok, this is the most common one, I know. But, if you do it right, it actually helps. What do I mean by that? Well, for a brainstorming session to be productive you need to destroy the barrier that's present when we do this type of exercise; The little voice inside our heads that goes and says: that's a stupid idea, terrible and stupid.
When we listen to this little demon, we decide to throw the idea away before even writing it down. What if the idea could have become an actual best seller after some development and work?
Another important thing to do when brainstorming is to write it all down! Don't brainstorm just in your mind...when it's all written down you can see it, and if you can see it, you can analyze what must be done with it. Seeing the all written down may give you more ideas to carve. Maybe if you mix two ideas, you could have an interesting story in your hands!
Plus! If you can do this type of exercises in a creative space (not inside a four-wall room, with no creative incentives or visual stimulation to help your brain with the task) it will truly make a difference.
Dreams
Our mind is always creating. Sometimes, we wake up wondering: why did I had such a strange dream? Where did it come from? Well, write it down before it slips away!
In dreams we don't have filters or silly voices telling us we're useless for coming up with such an "stupid" idea. This is what makes dreams a really good creative machine. It's hard to remember a dream, but with practice you'll be able to do so, at least for the short period of time it takes for you to write it down. Just keep a dream journal and a pen by your bed, so that as soon as you wake up, just before this dream flies away, you'll be able to put it down on paper where it'll stay for you to explore later.
Observe!
When you're sitting at the park, at the restaurant or any public space, you have a chance to find something to wrote about. Every person in the room/place has a life story, but they also have stuff happening in their lives at that precise moment. Pay close attention to them, to their movements, to their posture and their expression. What do they tell you?
Is that person all by herself, looking longingly towards the lake in front of her bench? Who is she thinking of? What reminded her of that person she's thinking of? Look at the way she's sitting. She seems shy, trying to take as less space as she can. Look at her clothes. She's modest. She's trying to cover as much as she can and the colors she uses aren't flashy at all, quite the opposite. Maybe... just maybe, she is in love with someone who doesn't even know she exists.
If you start connecting dots, you can get a great story. And, believe me, public spaces have lots of dots you can play with.
Memories
Do you remember when you were little and you went to the beach for the first time? When you used to play with your cousins? Or, when you lost someone close to you?
Your own story can be a great inspiration. You don't have to write about you, but you can use your own memories and life to come up with a story and then twist it and add some fantasy in so that it doesn't become an autobiography of sorts.
Even if you don't believe it, most of the time we write from what we feel, from what we've lived, from what we want to live and from past experiences that left an imprint in our soul.
Looking for inspiration? Maybe you should stop looking outside and have a peek inwards.
Read and watch!
Reading books and watching movies or series can help you boost up your creativity! These people came up with those ideas and then they developed them into something bigger than themselves. Soak up on all of this! Learn how a great storyteller tells the story. Learn all you can about the stories they tell, how they tell them and why.
Yes... why you tell a story is part of the creative process. If you have a message you want to convey, the final product will be so much more powerful than if you tell it just because you felt it was funny.
Remember, creativity can't be forced! You just need the right incentive and TA DA! It will flow again.
Your friend,
Camila
Comentários