“Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse
Even with all the courage in the world, every creative will eventually run into a creative block, so we asked some of our favorite creatives to share how they overcome creative blocks.
Trish Booth
Do something completely different. Get out of the studio. Play music. Go to rose gardens, parks, museums, galleries. Garden. Spring clean your house. Paint a room. Get physical and out in nature. You’ll come back with a new perspective. One of the most reliable exercises to “get me going” in the studio is to clean up the detritus from the last project. I need juxstaposition. Read more >>>
LaPrea Rich
One of the most frustrating challenges as an artist is having the desire to create but feeling completely blocked. In the past, I used to try to push through those moments, which almost always backfired. I’d either ruin an existing painting by forcing it or end up producing something that felt lifeless and uninspired. Read more >>>
Bethi Lewis
I go to the water. I will find a spot to sit near a lake or a river and I watch and listen to the melody it sings as it goes flows. Read more >>>
Wenting Gao
As an independent screenwriter and director, maintaining a steady flow of creative output is essential—even when there isn’t a strict deadline. Inevitably, there are moments when I hit a block, whether from a lack of inspiration, being stuck halfway through a story, or simply being overwhelmed by everyday responsibilities. What has helped me most is finding ways to keep my creative input alive. Read more >>>
EM Jeanmougin & Jay S. Wright
How to Overcome Creative Blocks Creative blocks can happen for a variety of reasons. Sometimes creative blocks are challenges that need to be overcome to progress. Maybe you feel paralyzed by the plethora of choices available. Or maybe you are concerned you lack the skill to pull off a description in an entertaining and immersive way. Maybe you’re simply burnt out. Read more >>>
Jeri Weems
Writer’s block, for me, is more mindset than mystery. It creeps in when I chase perfection on the first pass—spending hours hunting for the exact word, twisting a sentence one way, then back again, only to delete it all and start over. I’ll rebuild entire paragraphs, rework dialogue until it loses its pulse, reread the same lines so many times they blur. Read more >>>
Mingrui (Crystal) Li
When I run into a creative block, I’ve learned not to force myself to keep pushing. Instead, I like to step back and give my mind a chance to breathe. Sometimes, reading a book, watching a movie, or even just paying attention to small details in my daily life helps me gain new ideas. Read more >>>
Joachim Heijndermans
During a period after some writing success, I experience a time where I wrote less frequently and I became more critical of my short fiction writing output, feeling I’d gotten into a rut and retreaded grounds I’d already covered. Read more >>>
Khadijah Z. Ali-Coleman
I don’t believe I can point to one moment in my life where I have had a creativity block. I know that sounds far-fetched. But, I’m serious. I’m rarely stumped for ideas because I find the world around us to be bursting with inspiration for any and everything. Also, I read. As a writer, how can you write if you don’t read? Read more >>>
Arthur Burrows
You know, creativity doesn’t always arrive like. Sometimes it shows up in the distance—slow, steady, and only if you’re willing to meet it halfway like talent. For me, overcoming creative blocks wasn’t about waiting for inspiration. It was about building the kind of internal structure that could withstand its absence. That structure came from my father. Read more >>>
Ramona Richardson
Maya Angelou once said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” Writing her life story helped her transform her trauma into triumph. As a literacy teacher, I spent each day looking for strategies and techniques to get my students to write. Many would express their struggles with writing, and some would even say, ‘I’m stuck. Read more >>>
Eli Birdie
I’ve wanted to be a writer since before I could write, working any free chance I got, often deep into the night. Within such a competitive space, I felt like I needed to push past my limits to stand out. I felt that even if perfection cannot be achieved in artistry, things can always be better. Enter 2020, covid, chaos, lockdowns. Read more >>>
Giovanny Acero
For me, the best solution for writer’s block is to understand that creativity is the result of a life lived, that nothing is more inspiring than life itself, whether it be the good parts of the bad parts. Whenever I get stuck creatively, I just put it all away and forget about it. Read more >>>
