What to do and how to overcome a creative crisis? Several ways to get out of a creative crisis

I think every author (beginning or already quite famous) at least once in his life has encountered such an unpleasant phenomenon as creative crisis. Dealing with this can sometimes be very difficult. I want to try to figure out what it really is and draw the necessary conclusions.

So what is writer's block? The answer is simple - a state in which the author, composer, artist, poet simply cannot take up and do what he, in fact, always does. In order to somehow cope with this condition, you first need to know why it occurs. There may be several reasons for this.

Concept " Creative crisis."

The roads leading to art are full of thorns, but they also yield beautiful flowers.. George Sand.

The concept of "Creative crisis" consists of two words.

Creativity is an activity that generates new values, ideas, and the person himself as a creator.

Crisis (from the Greek decision, turning point) is a revolution, a time of transition, a turning point, a state in which the existing means of achieving goals become inadequate, resulting in unpredictable situations and problems.
Let's consider such a thing as an existential crisis, simply psychological. This is a state of anxiety, a feeling of deep psychological discomfort when questioning the meaning of existence. Most common in cultures where basic needs for survival have already been met.

Result: a state of creative crisis, which means a certain inability to create, to express your thoughts through the type of creativity that you have chosen.

Some causes of creative crisis.

Any human creation, be it literature, music or painting, is always a self-portrait. Butler

The first and one of the most common: Having finished some of his work (usually midi or maxi), the author, who has invested soul, energy, talent and time into his creation, is literally “emptied” for some time. After this, he suddenly cannot write anything - his hands simply do not reach him, they give up after the first viewing of the “draft” of the new chapter.

Second: any failures in Everyday life(quarrels with parents, friends, not very good grades at school, comments from teachers, etc.). In this case, most often, unlike the previous one, there is not only no inspiration, but also no desire to do anything.

Third: fatigue. This often happens after important exams, tests, interviews, which you not only failed, but on the contrary, most likely received the assessment of your abilities that you yourself gave, or even higher. Although, there may be another reason for fatigue. In this case, you most likely do not have the strength to do anything.

Fourth: banal laziness. There is nothing to explain here.

Fifth: excessive motivation. Because of this, there is strong excitement, anxiety, and possible fear of failure.

Sixth: stress. Excessive psychological stress affects not only creativity, but also health. This could be caused by anything (even a negative rating or comment).
Because of this factor, creative crisis usually lasts the longest.

Several ways to get out of a creative crisis.

To have grounds for creativity, you need your life itself to be meaningful. Ibsen.

Good vacation- this method, I think, is more suitable for the first, third and sixth reasons. And in general, a good, useful (which is probably the most important) rest has never harmed anyone.

Switching tasks- if you can’t do what you love, why not switch to something else? If you write music, for drawing, for example, or for playing some kind of sport? After this, there is big chance for a surge of inspiration and creative strength.

Brainstorm- if you have good endurance and willpower, and you don’t have much time to fight a creative crisis (you never know, you’re writing a piece for a competition or at least school essay), then I think this option should suit you. The essence of the method is this: you start thinking about the idea itself (what it is, what’s wrong with it, maybe there’s something in it that’s significantly bothering you right now). Perhaps this will give you some ideas and speed up your thinking process. The only thing is that you need to firmly decide and commit to it. Otherwise, nothing may work out.

New images and impressions- I really don’t like creative crisis vivid impressions. This leads to some new ideas that you didn’t even know were possible. Of course, you can’t always afford a trip abroad or to another city, but you can take a different route from school, update your wardrobe, and try something new for you.

Rework and rework- searching for problems and snags in a work is a fairly successful way to get rid of a creative crisis. You look for errors and shortcomings in the texts and end up discovering a lot of new things (for example, an idea that you never really “bothered” about before). Of course, revision is a much less effective method than changing images and impressions, but this is often very relevant and justified.

How to do your work in case of creative crisis?

If you feel a loss of strength, inspiration, etc. similar symptoms creative crisis, try to do at least something. After all, it is known that appetite often comes while eating.

But, of course, there is no need to torture yourself by trying to do something for a very long time (this can simply lead to another reason for creative crisis). Then, try to do something that you usually just don’t get around to doing (learn the same geometry, for example).

Bottom line.

Art lies in finding the extraordinary in the ordinary and the ordinary in the extraordinary.. Diderot.

After we have understood this topic a little, we need to draw a conclusion.

Conclusion. Creative crisis is something like a disease. And almost any disease can be cured. You just need to understand in time what is happening to you, the cause of this condition and choose the right “medicine”.

Good luck in your creative endeavors!

A crisis, especially a creative one, can cause real depression. Are you a person who makes a living from creativity? It doesn’t matter what exactly you create - paintings, music, confectionery or advertising. Even if the object of your creation is a quarterly accounting report, creating it also requires an impulse called “inspiration.” A lack of inspiration, known as “nakedness” or “stupor,” can make life unbearable. In this article we will tell you how to overcome a creative crisis and not be afraid of dead ends if they arise.

Hello crisis!

Creative person He senses his mood very subtly, because the results of his work depend on his emotional uplift. When everything is good, work goes smoothly, life seems joyful and a pleasant walk on a sunny day. But what does it turn into when a creative crisis occurs? What to do in this case to return everything to normal? Follow the tips below and your muse will return to you.

Not a word about the problem

Thinking again and again about how the crisis disrupted your creative process, you only make your situation worse. Even if the stagnation has been going on for more than one week, and you are saddened by the absence of your muse, you should not draw inconsolable conclusions. Let go of the situation and accept what is.

How long will the crisis last?

Creative stagnation can last for months, but this is not a reason to put an end to life and plunge into the deepest depression. remember, that black line will not be replaced by light while you are despondent. It's just a vicious circle - while yours state of mind unstable, you will not be filled with inspiration. Just try to forget about what you need to create. As soon as you do something you are passionate about and clear your head of depressing thoughts, inspiration will return on its own.

Extreme to help you

Overcoming a creative crisis is a non-standard task, which means that the solutions will be non-standard. The first way out of stagnation is to invigorate your body. Skydive, kayak down a river, climb a mountain, or do something else you've always been afraid of. Such outside influence will help you see the world from a different perspective, and perhaps your creative juices will begin to flow again.

A new type of creative activity

We continue to give unusual but working advice to the question: “How to overcome creative crisis?” An effective recommendation would be to change the type of outlet for your inspiration. Get busy creative activity, which you have never done and for which you think you have no predisposition. Treat this with all responsibility and hard work. Let you not know how to draw and practice writing activity, but try to draw a masterpiece in bright colors. By engaging in an activity that is not typical for you, you force both of your hemispheres to work, which leads to the emergence of creative ideas.

Play some sports

Don't be surprised by this advice because it really works. You probably know how effective a change of activity is. You could observe this back in school, in primary school: After working for some time, the teacher asked the students to do five-minute exercises. Inspiration and creative process- this is not a lesson at school, and therefore the “charging” should be longer. But don't force yourself to go to the gym if you're against dumbbells. Physical activity can be of any kind, the main thing is that your body works and you enjoy it.

- away!

Sometimes inspiration "runs out" because you are overloaded with information. This advice may be intimidating, especially if communication with you is important to you. outside world And social media. Meanwhile, disconnecting from your usual sources of information is guaranteed to get your brain working. What do we have to do? Try to live for several days without the Internet, newspapers, television, mobile phone. Since you will be deprived of external input, you will begin to generate new ideas yourself.

Seek inspiration from others

Sometimes in a good way The solution to a problem will be to borrow inspiration from others. Surely you get from contemplating or experiencing the creative flight of thoughts of other authors. Forget about being a creator and become a spectator. Visit exhibitions, go to concerts, read books, listen to music. Specifically try not to create anything at this time, absorb, feed on the creativity of others, and after a short period of time you will “give birth” yourself.

Look into the past

You probably have some ideas that you started working on in the past, but never implemented them. Reconsider your ideas. Perhaps they can be developed and created something worthwhile. It is also not uncommon for old ideas to lead to the creation of new ones. A creative crisis is most often associated with a lack of new ideas, but this does not mean that you cannot return to the past and look at old ones from a new angle.

From "night owl" to "lark" and vice versa

Another change that can have a positive impact on the frozen creative process and will be a good answer to the question of how to get out of a creative crisis. Try changing your usual daily routine. For example, don't sleep at night if you're a morning person, or get up at dawn if you're a night owl. Try to get a good night's sleep, asking your loved ones in advance not to disturb you.

Changing your social circle

It is not necessary to make new friends, especially since in this state you will not be able to do so. But you can try to change your usual social circle. For example, go to a biker bar or sign up for an excursion with nature lovers. Communication with people of similar interests will stimulate you to new exploits, and who knows what you will invent after such unusual communication?

Earning money through mental labor becomes the path to the gradual development of the author and those who embrace creativity - reading a book, studying a painting, listening to music. An active flow of thoughts forms a work process that brings moral satisfaction to the author and public recognition. But what to do when all the brilliant ideas are gone and a creative crisis sets in.

What does creative crisis mean?

The temporary state of the author, in which he loses the ability to create projects, is that very crisis. Inspiration suddenly disappears, and with it disappears. The formulation of an idea that was simple and obvious yesterday becomes an impossible task today. Creative man with successful projects in the intellectual sphere, he knows what a creative crisis is, and how brilliant ideas suddenly disappear from one’s head. Diligent attempts to work during such a period will not bring the expected results; on the contrary, they will disappoint the author or employer.

Creative crisis - reasons

Intellectual stagnation or a crisis of creativity, some psychologists call ordinary laziness. But it is unlikely that a person will consciously want to suddenly stop at a certain stage of work if the result negatively affects him in the first place. Creativity knows no boundaries and cannot be made to order. It is very important to determine the causes of this condition.

1. Fatigue. Occurs if a person completely concentrates all his strength on work.
2. Completion of a successful project. Recognition of success and a decent income relaxes nervous system, less meaningful work becomes uninteresting.
3. The large scale of the work means uncertainty in strength at the initial stage of the project and the result is the fruits of the work, which should be expected for a long time.
4. A monotonous lifestyle - a measured work schedule, comfortable conditions and stable pay dulls the incentive to achieve high results.
5. Personal problems – here everyone may have an individual situation.
6. Lack of encouragement and biased assessment.

Creative crisis - what to do?

It is necessary to put in the first place a clear understanding that this period is a temporary phenomenon, after it comes new wave an active surge of creativity. What to do if a creative crisis befalls the author, and what methods to use to generate ideas:

1. They will turn their face to nature - go for a picnic, fishing, hunting, or just take a walk under the starry sky.
2. You need to rest; if it is not possible to postpone work for a certain period, take a day off. One day of proper rest can bring back inspiration.
3. Change your usual environment, find new acquaintances - sign up for a gym, swimming pool or cutting and sewing course. Do something unusual, occupy your head with new thoughts.
4. Get busy physical activity– increase blood oxygen saturation, which causes the brain to begin to work actively.
5. Change your diet - nourish your brain cells. Eating: nuts, figs, banana, strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, pineapple, lemon, avocado, carrots, onions, beets, spinach, shrimp will be beneficial.
6. Avoid energy drinks and stimulants. For several days you should avoid drinks containing caffeine and alcohol.
7. Chat with friends, ask for tips from an authoritative person. He will be able to show an unknown facet of the problem, after which a moment of enlightenment will come - the creative process will resume with renewed vigor.
8. Making a mistake means understanding what not to do. Even failures lead to experience; there is no need to sit back and become depressed.

How long does a creative crisis last?

The period in which the author experienced a creative decline can be characterized by different periods of time. The work process may be in full swing, but not bring obvious results, in addition, this work will cause negative criticism from others. Sometimes this condition can last for several months. This may be a reason to discover unknown talents in yourself and switch to another field of activity.

How to get out of a creative crisis?

From biographies creative people one can understand that a creative crisis is always a step towards take-off - a rethinking of creativity and a transition to new level. Tips for exit and crisis:

1. There is no need to squeeze an idea out of your brain if it is simply not there at a certain moment.
2. Give up trying to figure out the stunning success of a new project based on the old promoted version.
3. Completely switch gears and throw the work process out of your head - you will miss what you love.
4. If you come to smart thoughts in separate parts, write them down on paper. After a while these short phrases can become the basis of the work.

How to overcome a creative crisis and keep yourself in good shape - give your brain logical questions to reason about. Doing mental exercises and solving puzzles will help you manifest non-standard approach to obvious tasks. Sometimes, associative comparison becomes the key, it will easily return creative ideas with a new charge of energy. The field of creativity bears good fruit for those who love to work in it.

“Literary master class” by writer and screenwriter Jürgen Wolf; in it famous writers talk about the techniques that helped them overcome their creative crisis.

Literary Masterclass: Learn from Tolstoy, Chekhov, Dickens, Hemingway and many other modern and classic authors

Jurgen Wolf

Mann, Ivanov and Ferber, 2014

Why you shouldn't be afraid of creative crisis

“The wisest thing to do is not to worry too much about periods of creative infertility. They help the theme mature and bring the reality of everyday life into the story.”

Shelley Jackson suggests that creative impasses are a completely normal part of the creative process:

“I sat on the unfinished draft for several years until I suspected, and rightly so, that I simply did not know how to finish it. When I returned to it again, I still didn’t know this, but I continued and eventually finished the book. If someone had immediately told me that I would never understand how to write novels, I would have immediately continued, despite almost complete confusion and doubts, and after finishing the draft, I would have appreciated what I had written and began to improve the book.”

Roddy Doyle- another novelist with a rather carefree approach to work:

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a writer’s block. If a novel is moving slowly or is extremely unsatisfactory, I switch to another book so I can return to the problem area later. I calmly write nonsense with the full understanding that this is nonsense and I will correct everything later. Often you have to write six bad sentences before you get to a good seventh. But first you need to write these six, understand that they are bad, and guess that the seventh is what you need. So even bad days are useful.”

Temporary creative impasse accompanied the work Alice Munro over all her books:

“There were times when I was writing and thought that I had made great progress - I had written more pages than usual. The next day I get up and realize I don't want to work on this thing anymore. When I am so reluctant to continue that I have to force myself, I usually know that something is going wrong. About three-quarters of the time, I felt the urge to quit the story quite early on. I spend a day or two severely depressed, wandering around aimlessly, wondering if I should write something else. Everything is as in love story: Frustrated and unhappy, you start dating a new guy who you don't like at all, but you haven't realized this yet. Then suddenly it appears new idea the story left was: I need to see if she will fit, but only after I tell myself: “No, everything is bad here, forget about it.”

Similar doubts about their own stories also existed among Chekhov. He compared them with those not yet written:

“I have plots for five stories and two novels languishing in my head. One of the novels has been planned for a long time, so some of characters already outdated before they were written. In my head I have a whole army of people asking to come out and waiting for a command. Everything that I have written so far is nonsense compared to what I would like to write and what I would write with delight... I don’t like that I am successful; those stories that sit in your head are annoyingly jealous of what has already been written; It’s a shame that the nonsense has already been done, and the good stuff is lying around in the warehouse, like book trash.”

Writers have several options for practically addressing these issues.

Move to more
major issues

Paul Auster believes that writer's block may be a sign that there are larger issues to consider:

“The greatest patience is needed. After many weeks of sadness and months of suffering, I discovered that when a writer reaches a dead end, it usually means that he does not understand what he really wants to say. You need to go back and carefully consider your motives, intentions and goals that you intend to achieve. But the main thing is not to force yourself to write further just to fill the last pages with words.”

Brainstorming topics

If the problem is that you don't have an idea for your next book, try the method I used Philip Roth. He told NPR how he came up with the plot of the novel Nemesis about the polio epidemic:

“I started [writing] as I often do: [writing down] everything in a yellow notebook on lined paper. historical events, which I witnessed and which I have not yet reflected in my books. When I got to polio, it was a revelation to me. I never thought that this could be the topic of a book. Then I remembered how terrible it was, how deadly it was, and I thought, “Okay, try writing a book about polio...” I wanted to see: Can I portray how afraid we all were of it?

Roth used the same method for the book “The Plot Against America,” where he tried to imagine what would have happened if Charles Lindbergh, rather than Franklin Roosevelt, had won the presidential election in 1940.

Write only if you believe

Ray Bradbury said:

“Those who get stuck are simply doing something they shouldn't be doing: those who write screenplays or books that shouldn't have been written will end up with writer's block because their subconscious will say:

“No more inspiration!”

His opinion is typical for a high-level writer: if you write about what you love, a creative crisis will not occur.

Get treatment

Having experienced problems in the middle of working on the script for the film Carter Conquers the Devil, Glen David Gold took a break for seventeen months to consider whether screenwriting was a symptom of struggling with unhealed childhood trauma. He says:

“I decided to go to therapy, change my life, move on to another stage and come back. And then I decided that I needed to surprise myself. I was walking between the stacks in the library and decided that I would place on the stage an object from the first book that I came across. And this turned out to be the story of the guillotine! This was able to surprise me, motivate me to move from exposition to action and complete the rest of the plot.”

Keep a diary

Dominic Dunn advises:

“I think keeping a diary is the best thing for a writer... A journal will be especially invaluable when you are experiencing a creative impasse. Write down complaints to yourself about creative crisis there. Tell me how bad you feel, how angry you are that your talent suddenly left you. Describe a chapter or scene where you are at a dead end: who are these characters and what do you want to achieve in this episode. Write about it. Believe me, everything will start to get better right there, in the diary.”

Give a surprise

H.G. Wells advised:

"If you're having trouble with a book, try the element of surprise: attack her when she least expects it."

I agreed with him Francis Scott Fitzgerald:

“Sometimes it is possible to solve especially difficult task, if you approach it from the very early morning, with the freshest powers of consciousness. I have had this happen so often that I have blind faith in this approach.”

Listen to music

Amy Tan speaks:

“There are many ways. One of them is to put on the same music that I listened to when I was working on it before. Music has a hypnotic effect and mobilizes all senses. And I immerse myself in the right atmosphere.”

Write one
this offer

Ernest Hemingway This is how I built my self-confidence:

"Sometimes, starting new story, I couldn’t move, and then I sat down in front of the fireplace, squeezed tangerine peels into the fire and watched the splashes flare up with blue sparks. I got up, looked at the Parisian rooftops and thought: “Don’t worry. You could write before and now you will write. You just need to write one truthful phrase. Write the most truthful one you can.” In the end, I wrote down one truthful phrase and moved on from there. And it was already easy, because there was always one truthful phrase that you knew or saw, or heard from someone. If I began to write intricately, or to lead to something, or to demonstrate something, it turned out that these curlicues or decorations could be cut off and thrown away and start with the first true, simple affirmative sentence.

Creative crisis can sometimes become a real scourge for copywriters, bloggers and, in general, all creative people, regardless of nationality, age, gender and political views. Where does it come from? How to overcome it? And how can we make sure that it occurs as rarely as possible? Today's article will answer all these questions.

Where does creative crisis come from?

Creative crisis- this is a temporary state in which the creative process falls into a stupor, ideas flee from the head like rats from a sinking ship, and begins to be officially listed as missing.

This may be due to fatigue, stress, poor health, or banal symptoms. In the previous article, we considered such a negative concept as excessive motivation. It can also trigger a writer's block.

Creative crisis: ways to overcome it

Whatever the reasons lead to the development of mental dead ends, there are always several ways to put everything in its place, which we will consider further.

1. Good rest

One of the most harmless ways to overcome creative block is to have a good rest, fill your life with entertainment and do what gives you pleasure. If your conscience awakens, then let it rest with you. Iron “excuse”: every person needs rest, no matter how workaholic he may be.

2. Physical activity

Physical activity is another way to overcome creative block. Unlike relaxation, in this case pleasure and entertainment are not assumed, instead - severe tests physical exercise, horizontal bars, dumbbells and other equipment.

Physical activity is useful not only because it will save you from a creative crisis, but also because additional physical activity will keep you constantly in shape and serve as a prevention of troubles that plague people with a constantly sedentary lifestyle.

3. Task switching

If creative crisis prevents you from making progress in some endeavor, put it aside for a while and do something else. For example, if you are a freelancer and work from home, do the cleaning, cook dinner, hang a picture, or wash all the dirty laundry. If you work in an office, switch to other tasks, do a couple of organizational things, learn something new, etc.

Thus, you will kill two birds with one stone:

1. Get rid of creative block
2. You will do those things that you would have to do, sooner or later

4. Brainstorm

If a creative crisis leads to the fact that thoughts stubbornly do not want to come to your head or barely drag on one after another, getting lost on the way to your consciousness, you can speed them up. This is done with the help of so-called brainstorming.

The essence of the method is that you switch to the mode of generating ideas (and only generation). At this stage, you don't think good idea or bad. You can generate complete nonsense, the main thing is to record all your thoughts.

Then review what you came up with. The result obtained will lead you to new thoughts and ideas, and the work will begin to boil. In any case, by examining the fruits of the generation of your mind, you will be a little distracted, and if you’re lucky, you’ll have fun, so it certainly won’t be in vain.

5. Tips

If a creative crisis torments you and gives you no rest, then you can always ask friends and acquaintances for advice. All people are social beings, everyone has connections, no matter in real life or on the web.

In addition, you can always use tools such as ICQ, Twitter, social networks and other environments to get a whole bunch of advice and food for thought from people you may not even know.

6. Problems

A radical option to combat creative crisis. Artificially creating problems to create a sense of contrast. It is possible that by resorting to this method, you will get a sky full of diamonds, a headache, damaged relationships with people, extra financial expenses and total demoralization, but there will be no trace of a creative crisis. You can be sure that you will have something to say, something to describe, and you will be pierced by streams of violent feelings that you can throw out in your creativity.

This is the first phase. The second phase occurs when you deal with your problems and experience relief. After this, any creative crisis will not be worth a damn, and, therefore, as a problem, will cease to exist for you.

Main question: where to find problems? There is plenty of this goodness in Slavic countries. Flush the condom down the toilet from the upper floors, shout “Spartak champion!” in the locker room of Dynamo Kyiv, lean out of the window with a mop during events with the participation of senior officials under the windows - and problems will be guaranteed.

7. Revision and rework

If a creative crisis stubbornly prevents new ideas and thoughts from coming to you, you can use alternative approaches to work. One of these options is refining or reworking existing ideas.

It is physically impossible to always create something new. Whatever you do, there will always be people who have either already done something in this area or are doing something in this moment. And if so, there are no reasons preventing you from taking someone else’s idea and implementing it in your own way, making it better and finalizing it.

In this case, you:

1. First, you get rid of creative crisis
2. Secondly, develop a direction
3. Thirdly, you save a lot of time

Of course, conceptual novelty cannot be compared with any improvement, but, in many cases, this is relevant and justified. Take some ideas