I’m typically an advocate for fighting when faced with a creative rut. Living with deadlines and projects has made me aware that creativity and inspiration are not things found while waiting for them to appear. They’re found while doing the work, no matter how flawed and terrible the first iterations of that work are.
That being said, I know fighting isn’t necessarily the best solution. I took off almost an entire year from writing – in all forms – when I graduated grad school. Was it frightening? Yes. Did I worry I would never write again? Most assuredly. Any time I tried to fight my way through the mental and perhaps even spiritual exhaustion of a thesis year, though, I encountered myself writing horrible lines. They didn’t even have potential to them. I’ve saved them, but I doubt I will ever return to them. They’re akin to what I wrote when I first started to write poetry, and those lines are best left to history. What, then, to do when faced with a creative rut?
- Rest. Sometimes, rest – a sabbath – is needed. It’s one reason why humans are supposed to work six days per week and rest on the seventh. Humans, if left to their own devices, often work all seven, but that day of rest is important. It lets ideas begin to grow together. It gives the mind, body, and spirit the refreshment those three areas need. It sometimes even can produce a spontaneous burst of creativity; such often is the case with my poetry.
- Try something new. Dr. Seuss would put on one of his many hats or paint to get a new perspective on whatever writing or creative challenge he faced. I draw or play the piano or read a poet with whom I’m unfamiliar. Running, too, works. It’s about getting away from the work and giving it room to breathe.
- Fight. Yes, I’m back to my theme. This is Sparta after all. After that year of not writing, I finally grew tired of myself and my inability to write anything good. I decided I had the energy and desire to fight, and I did, namely by writing terrible, terrible poems and other forms of writing. In fact, I actually started a blog, one that, like my early poems, is best left in some corner or under some bed.
How do you get out of a creative rut?
Image: Eva Ekeblad (CC BY NC SA 2.0)
[…] Running by yourself has its benefits. You can think about things. You work through a troublesome spot in your novel or poem. You connect all four of the books you’re reading, including Dracula and Writing Down the Bones. […]