What is creative crisis?
Almost every person who takes their work seriously has experienced a creative crisis. Lack of new ideas, loss of inspiration, emptiness, a feeling of mental stupor when it is difficult to concentrate on work, the inability to adequately evaluate its results are the main symptoms of a creative crisis.
This condition can last from several days to several weeks and even months. This difficult test has its reasons.
What factors contribute to the onset of a creativity crisis?
One of the main causes of creative crisis is overwork. A person who is too carried away by the creative process forgets about rest, fearing that inspiration will leave him. However, the emotional uplift that accompanies the creative process is replaced by fatigue, apathy and depression. The body is tired and requires a break, because it has used up its energy reserves and needs time to replenish them.
People whose work involves creativity often lack sleep, which also contributes to overwork.
Another common cause of creative crisis is lack of harmony in personal life. A crisis in life entails a crisis in creativity. Creative people are usually deeply vulnerable, and it is not so difficult to upset their mental balance. Discord in the team, quarrels in the family, financial difficulties, illness of a loved one, etc. - such problems prevent them from concentrating and completely surrendering to the creative process.
A creative crisis also comes from the monotony and routine of everyday life, the lack of bright impressions and a source of inspiration.
Some creative people fall into a creative stupor even if they have too much work to do. At the initial stage of its implementation, they may have so many different ideas and plans that, due to the confusion in their thoughts, it can be difficult for them to systematize them and decide where to start. That is, their crisis comes not because they have nothing to say, but because they immediately want to express too much.
It also happens that a lack of access to the necessary information leads to a creative crisis.
Creative people - writers and poets, artists and musicians - are often too demanding of themselves, and if the completed work does not live up to their expectations, they can destroy it. At the same time, they often become depressed and give up creative work for a long time.
Add a little weirdness
This might sound a little outlandish, but Brandon says it's one of the best ways to overcome writing challenges.
First, decide who you are writing for. No, you don’t need to come up with an abstract character of some gender, age or profession. Find a real, real person to write for.
Look through your friends on social networks and choose one specific person. Perhaps it will be your mom, some other relative, or a guy you barely knew in high school.
Once you've found your lucky winner, print out their photo (yes, this is where things start to get weird). You shouldn’t print a huge portrait, limit yourself to a small photo card. Place it near your workplace (no need to stick needles into it).
Now all you have to do is write for that person. How would you explain the topic to him or her? How would you tell your story? It turns out that, instead of writing to some unknown reader, you are now writing for a specific person. Surprisingly, this little trick really works.
How to get out of a creative crisis
Translated from ancient Greek, the word “crisis” means a transitional state, a turning point, a revolution, etc. Thus, those who are overcome by a creative crisis must realize that this is a temporary phenomenon. You just need to wait it out, because a creative crisis is not the end, but just a pause that you need to take advantage of to give your body a break.
We can say that a creative crisis is useful for a person: it is given in order to put thoughts in order and solve long-standing problems for which there was not enough time before.
1. In a state of emptiness, characteristic of a creative crisis, you should not force yourself to get your work off the ground - both time and effort will be wasted, which will only increase despair and depression.
Not every job can be put off until inspiration strikes. Deceiving oneself by persuading oneself to work for at least half an hour often helps to overcome internal resistance and stubborn reluctance to get down to business. Practice shows that this half hour stretches over several hours until all or most of the work is done. The well-known rule “Appetite comes with eating” also justifies itself here.
There is another interesting opinion. The artist Van Gogh advised: “If an inner voice tells you that you can no longer paint, continue to paint until it is silent.” He is echoed by another classic who has experienced a creative crisis more than once - N.V. Gogol. He said: “If you can’t write today, then write - there’s something I can’t write today.” You just have to start - and the necessary thoughts will come on their own.
2. During a creative crisis, a forced break from work can be used to switch to other things that had to be put off due to busyness: repairs, doctor’s visits, organizing closets, etc. They will distract from depressive thoughts that “everything is is gone” and inspiration will never return (see “90 Proven Ways to Overcome Writer’s Block and Find Inspiration Again”). Moreover, when new ideas appear, there will be no time left for household chores.
3. Creative people work mainly while sitting. And, as you know, to achieve the best results, mental work should be alternated with physical work. Physical activity, especially in the fresh air, improves blood circulation and nutrition of the brain, so you shouldn’t sit in one place for hours and torment yourself with finding the best solutions.
If signs of creative block appear, it is worth taking a break from work for a while and warming up - running, going to the gym or swimming pool, working in the garden, or just taking a walk in the park. It is also useful to simply stand under the shower or lie in the bath - the water “washes away” all the negativity, and the person feels renewed.
Yoga and meditation can help relieve tension and allow you to relax.
5. Many people who are “caught up” with a creative crisis are “treated” with books, music, and films. For some, going to a bookstore helps, while for others, looking at old photographs helps. Some people need to be alone, while others need to meet with friends who can give them a fresh idea or make them look at a problem with different eyes.
The time of creative crisis should be used to visit theaters, concerts, museums, and exhibitions, because the more diverse a person’s interests and the higher the cultural level, the more significant his ideas. Moreover, someone’s painting or melody may well serve as an impetus for new creative ideas (see “How to develop creativity and creative thinking”).
However, psychologists do not advise looking for inspiration in the works of colleagues: it is better for a writer to look through albums with reproductions, and for an artist to read a book. Otherwise, a person who is in a creative stupor will inevitably compare himself with a colleague and draw conclusions that are not in his favor.
7. Psychologists believe that the most effective method of getting out of creative stagnation is to urgently change the environment, changing the “picture” before your eyes for a while. Everyday monotony and routine lead to a gradual fading of the feeling of joy and happiness, when everything comes easily and simply.
It is impossible to give unambiguous advice - one for everyone - on how to get out of a creative stupor. Every creative person has had to experience a similar state sooner or later - and everyone has their own recipe. After all, the main thing is to rest, relax and temporarily switch to another activity.
And everyone has their own ways of doing this. For one person it is enough to sleep and relax with his family, while for another he needs to be alone, having gone far and long. Some people are “cured” by going to the mountains, while others are treated by vintage shopping. The only thing you shouldn’t do is fuel your psyche with alcohol and drugs - the emotional outburst after using them will eventually turn into deep depression.
And the seventh and final point: healing has begun.
Something in your life is getting better. Of course, you are still being tossed back and forth, but nevertheless a process has clearly begun: for example, everything that happened is no longer perceived so acutely. This is a signal that healing has begun. Like a wound on the skin: even if you cut yourself in the wrong place, where the skin is very stretched and the wound is constantly opening, it will still begin to heal someday.
The wound may not be completely healed by the time the crisis comes out, it will heal later, but healing must begin - this is important. A symptom of healing that has begun, for example, may be that you have regained interest in ordinary life or in something new that is not related to the crisis itself and its consequences.
All sorts of heavy processes began to subside, space became free, and the first green shoots began to emerge from the fire.
Get some sleep
Sleep is the head of everything.
We often dream of brilliant things. The problem is that they are usually forgotten in the morning.
Scientists have proven that a person remembers a dream in the first five minutes after waking up. Therefore, keep a notepad and pen next to your bed so that you can write down unusual dreams that you have at night. Dream plots work no worse than books or films.
Attend a cultural (or not so cultural) event
Go to an impressionist exhibition, go to a historical or zoological museum. Attend a theater or a hard-nosed performance by some activist group fighting for the rights of elephants in space.
For whom is this a serious problem?
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Creative crisis is a problem for people employed in creative professions, whose work activities involve intellectual stress.
A lack of creative ideas and lack of inspiration disrupt the work schedule. A person lets down customers, as a result of which he receives a reprimand from his superiors. This worsens the mood even more, and a persistent desire to change jobs appears.
Perhaps, dancers, designers, musicians, journalists, fashion designers, and photographers suffer more than others from creative depression.
Watch a good movie or read a book
The first thing you need to do is take your mind off the surrounding problems. Watching films will be a good help in this matter.
What will this give us? Firstly, this way we will be able to watch films that, for one reason or another, have passed by. You don’t have to watch new films - pay attention to the classics of world and domestic cinema.
Secondly, we can combine business with pleasure. No movie is complete without a soundtrack. Music in movies is a source of inspiration to draw from. In addition to music, films are full of dialogue, and any interesting phrase is a potential first line of a future hit.
For those who don’t want to look at a monitor or TV screen, books will come to the rescue. Read literature of different genres: fiction, educational, documentary, etc.
Reasons for loss of inspiration in creativity
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The main reasons for a creative crisis are:
- Heavy workload, fatigue;
- Severe emotional upheaval, stress;
- Bad feeling;
- Weak motivation for creativity;
- Pressure exerted on a person by others through requests to paint a picture or compose music.
Interesting. Studies of creativity as a personality trait have shown that peaks of creativity in people occur once every 4 years. Therefore, after a productive creative period, a quiet phase naturally follows.
Loss of creativity
