What I Do When I Feel Creatively Stuck
CHILD SACRIFICE O'CLOCK AND OTHER DISTRACTIONS
Let me set the scene: there's construction going on in my building two floors below me but the sound travels through the walls and the drilling and hammering breaks through the music—I listen to a lot of instrumental music or white noise. Then there's the preschool (or kindergarten) across the street and the children screeching… it sounds like a sacrificial rite going awry… so I call that time Child Sacrifice O'Clock. Those distractions break my concentration horrendously and I wish I could get up and go write elsewhere, but I shouldn't have to be chased out of my home to write.
You can call it writer's block, but it's not… or it is, it's just a different breed of writer's block. Some people call it burnout and I, like many writers, am an expert in that field. Hell, I was there very recently while I was juggling going to language school, building this blog and business, developing an unexpected social life—hi, I'm Kate, I'm an extraverted introvert—and trying to find time to unwind. Even time blocking barely worked because I was so drained every damn day. Even when I did develop a good rhythm, all I wanted to do was sleep. I'm not a writer who can force myself to write—I take great pride in my work, even if it's a mess. I'd rather have a clear head and have that motivation to write than write when I'm really tired.
But it's also different for me because despite the burnout, I know where I want to go in my story, but there are times when I get so insanely busy that the words don't come to me so I just stare at my computer, watching that damned cursor taunt me with its incessant blinking. And so the unfinished story haunts me until the words come pouring out of me… until that energy and time magically appears without forcing it. It feels like I'm suffocating on that scene or those scenes stuck inside my already crowded brain. Like my characters are trapped and they're screaming and begging to be let out. And when I do find that time, the distractions around me break my concentration—and I can hear them all through my noise cancelling headphones.
If you’ve come home with that story in your head, the characters are having overlapping conversations, then you sit down in front of your computer… and just stare at the blinking cursor—you’ve come to the right place.
WHAT ACTUALLY HELPS (NO LISTICLES, I PROMISE)
I wish I could say there's a magic cure for all of it, but the truth is… there's not. You just have to get yourself out of that rut. I won't give you that vague "I go for a walk, I listen to music, I read" bullshit, I'm going to break down how EACH of these have actually helped me. Don't worry, no listicles will be found here. When I am unable to travel, when things are actually peaceful in my apartment, I focus on mundane tasks that help me get out of my head. I shut my brain off and do the dishes, do a load of laundry and vacuum and dust. Then when I begin to feel myself relax—you know that feeling, when you do all those chores and your body feels pleasantly heavy—I grab a book I'm reading and sit on my chaise lounge couch, allowing myself to get lost in the words.
Lately, with reading… now, I might trigger people with this: I've been underlining and marking up my books. I know, I know! That can be a cardinal sin to some, but it's been very helpful with seeing HOW the author describes emotions or scenery or scenarios in general. I read a lot of horror, some gothic, and it allows me to subconsciously study the craft and the genre without any interruptions. I make little notes like "how [AUTHOR] describes the trees is incredible" "now THIS is how you describe fear"—or my personal favorite, when my comments become particularly unhinged "lmao you little bitch boy" or "you suck…".
So I'm not just reading, I'm studying the craft through fiction work. While craft books do help with honing in your writing skills, it's nothing compared to seeing how it's done in fiction. I mean, of course, there are the books that are not so… well written, for lack of better terms. The kind where you do highlight or underline to remind yourself NOT to do that. It sounds counterintuitive but it helps.
And I do go for walks in my wonderful city of Lisbon. Going out in public is just the perfect way to get inspiration—like sitting in a cafe or a restaurant and people watching… or if you want to get fancy with it—studying human behavior. Watching how they talk, how they move their hands, their facial expressions… or even something as mundane as staying glued to their phones as they doomscroll. It's great fodder to get the creative brain going again (I refuse to say creative juices flowing… it just… I shudder at that phrase. Even typing that made my entire body clench).
Or better yet, actually going for a walk in a park or in a city, there's just so much happening. It can be a lot, yes, but if you really hone it in, you can hear the hydraulic hiss of a bus opening its doors, people grumbling as they get on or off. Hearing birds tweet, seeing their feathers spread out as they flit from tree branch to tree branch. It's honestly meditative, the whole process. And bonus, it improves your mental health which in turn revives your creativity. It allows you to shut your chaotic brain off and just focus on all the senses around you. Even if you don't have the means to travel at the moment, walk down the street or around your neighborhood, there's always just something there—a neighbor pulling a curtain taut to a hide a secret, someone mowing the grass with a Stepford smile that's meant to comfort you but puts you at an unease.
Now, for those, like me, who get way too overstimulated and overwhelmed, I just plug in my headphones and turn on my go-to playlist which is Neo-Pagan music. Even if my writing doesn't have pagan influences (yet), just something so archaic really helps me get out of my head. I focus on the beats of the drums, those strings, the ancient tongue crooning Scandinavian myths and tying it to real life—for the record, I look up the translations of what I'm listening to, I have NO CLUE what they're singing or how to pronounce the words. Just listening to the flow of the music, even a specific beat of a drum or an emotional set of notes conveyed through the string instruments… I don't know how to describe it but it can be THAT moment in a song that sets you off with your creativity and completely unblocks you. If you're a fan of music, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
FIGHT, FLIGHT, FREEZE, OR WRITE
What I love about travel is that without even trying to distract my brain, it refills my creative well in a way nothing else can. My brain latches onto little details like whether the ruins have smoothed over or jagged with age, the color of moss latching onto volcanic stone, the way the wind can carry food and other various city smells. The sounds that emanate throughout the area. How those little elements can inspire a missing scene that can tie your entire plot together.
For example, while I was in Dublin, I was thoroughly enjoying the city, taking in the architecture and the cobblestones (and trying not to die on them since I roll my ankles a lot)... just enjoying my time there. Yet I was a bit depressed that I was failing to come up with a new story idea. I knew I wanted to write something gothic and horror, so at the time I was reading The Watchers by A.M. Shine, hoping it would inspire something. As it turns out, it did.
One night after dinner, I was walking on Grafton Street (very touristy street) when a slight mist descended, the warm glow of the street lights making the mist look golden and silver. I felt that familiar, lightning strike feeling I had when I was in Iceland. And then I saw it, the scene that would set a new story in motion. And despite the street being relatively empty, I couldn't help but feel someone—or something—was watching me. That sensation nearly paralyzed me to the spot until I sent that signal from my brain to move, that fight or flight instinct kicking in. But now whenever I have a moment that encourages me to write, I call it Fight, Flight, Freeze, or Write. I chose both Flight and Write. So when you’re walking around a city and you get that feeling—whether it’s the classic lightning bolt or something that’s uniquely you getting an idea—go with it. Write. It. Down.
So that’s what I did: the next day, I got to work, researching Irish creatures—similar to those in The Watchers—that I could build a story upon. And from there, I just started writing and I haven't stopped since.
As I said, none of these are actual cures, but they can help you identify a problem that you feel stuck on—whether it be an entire plot or a specific scene. Stepping away from the computer to read, walk, or listen to music or even doing household chores can help you see the bigger picture and identify what went wrong. I wish I could give specific examples without being too vague, but I'm keeping my lips tight about my current draft and the shadow-dwelling creature it all inspired on a late night walk through a street in Dublin. The truth is, this last paragraph was written to distract you from the fact that I'm stuck on how to end this blog post…
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