If we are empty, we have nothing to give, then the work does not go. And you can sit as long as you like, staring at an empty sheet. Until there is energy, there will be no inspiration. We lack the strength to work in moments of bad mood, emotional and physical fatigue. In a word, when something is wrong in our life, then creativity stands still.
Another variant of a creative crisis is a state of emotional stupor. When there is a problem, but you can't find a solution. Or you are tired of the daily routine, of the endless “shoulds” and you want to give up everything, go so far away that no one touches you.
sabbatical
Good for those freelance artists whose work is not limited by time. They can afford to "wait out" a temporary lack of ideas. Sometimes it’s enough just to accept everything as it is, take a little time out and believe that the muse will return soon. And in order to shorten the wait, and at the same time be filled with new impressions that give new ideas, get a new charge of creative forces, you can go on a trip or at least go to an exhibition, museum, theater, cinema.
Some people find it helpful to switch to another activity. For example, for general cleaning or repairs in the apartment. The brain is distracted from the endless search for ideas, such a respite is good for it. You can start landscaping your summer cottage or sign up as a volunteer in some charitable foundation. New things can lead you to new discoveries and become a source of inspiration.
Well, what if the cause of the creative crisis lies in some kind of severe mental trauma or is caused by the fear of failing, of not being able to surpass your own or other people's creations? Then it is better to seek the help of a psychologist. A good specialist will return your muse and joy of life in a few sessions.
Ax Soup
Well, if there is no way to nurture the idea of a new creation for weeks and you need to hand over the work literally by morning - write a business plan or a scientific article? How to quickly find the right thoughts? All creative people struggle with this question. And everyone has their own recipe.
But there are some universal tips, maybe one of them will work for you.
Anyone who has ever performed any creative task is familiar with the situation when work has stopped, inspiration has disappeared, there are no ideas, and everything around is distracting and does not allow you to collect your thoughts. In English there is a special term for this - creative block. The author of the ISO500 blog asked in-demand designers, artists and other creative professionals about how they overcome creative block and where they get ideas, and as a result received 15 tips on how to regain lost inspiration.
Kim Holtermand
The Danish photographer, who specializes in architecture and landscape photography, started his career just a couple of years ago, so he continues to work as a fingerprint expert in the forensic department of the Danish police.
“Only music can restore my creative spirit - it is an inexhaustible source of creativity. Many of my works were created with tracks from Sigur Rós (this is music for all time), Hammock, Max Richter, Air, Dead Can Dance, Helios, Johann Johannsson, Jonsi and Alex, M83, Olafur Arnalds, Trentemøller… In general, I I can go on forever."
Jasper Goodall
Freelance illustrator based in Birmingham. He promotes his own swimwear label JG4B and calls them art to wear.
“Several things help me: firstly, to break away from the computer. Go to some city I haven't been to yet and just wander around: one day I sat in a cafe in Berlin and so many ideas came to mind that I honestly didn't know what to do with them.
I also go to the library of the local University of Arts and Design where you can look through old editions of design and photography magazines. After I come home, I print out the articles and pictures I like and paste them into a thick notebook. Ideas after that - more than enough.
Eric Spiekermann
The legendary German typographer, professor at the University of Bremen, compatriot and successor to the work of the first printer Gutenberg. He considers his interest in typography an incurable disease and calls it typographic mania.
I have 5 tips:
Get distracted. Do something else that will distract you - wash your car or sort out old files on your computer.
Think. Sit back in your chair and just stop controlling your flow of thoughts.
Explore. Seek information, bring up your old projects, but avoid Google -
you can spend too much time before you come across something useful.
Make sketches. Drawing is great, even if you're completely incapable of it. Visualization of thoughts immediately revives them.
Share. Take a break from the problem, break your project into small parts and put them back together.
Gee Lee
He currently holds the position of Creative Director of Facebook. Prior to that, he worked in a similar position at Google. He not only conducts creative developments, but also lectures all over the world - including giving a master class at St. Petersburg State University.
“When the “ideological block” comes, I do several things. I go to the shower for a long time - old thoughts are washed away there, and I feel like I am renewed. After that, I clean the apartment: I can’t think when everything is a mess. If there is still no result, I go cycling around the neighborhood and try not to think about my project at all. One way or another, this scheme always works.”
Sea Scott
British graphic designer and illustrator best known for his 3D paper models. He lectures at Leeds College of Art and Design, periodically - in different cities of the world. Among his customers were Vogue, Nike and Tiffany & Co.
“It happens to me quite often that I can’t think of anything, but it happens with all creative people. I realized that there is only one way to overcome this: not to sit and wait for inspiration to return, but to keep working, to use all the ideas that are there, no matter how inappropriate they may seem.
“There are only two creatives in our studio. For each individual project, we attract different people, freelancers, who, in our opinion, are most suitable for this work. We are always looking for sources of inspiration and make sure to write them down so that later, if necessary, we can return to them again. These can be objects on the street that catch your eye (they must be photographed), books, fashion shows, films, blogs, etc. So every time we start a new project, we discuss things that can get us in the right mood and make moodboards - collections of pictures that inspire us."
MINE
A San Francisco-based graphic design studio with nothing on its website but a single caption: “We make books, packaging, graphics, and interactive campaigns for science visionaries, educational revolutionaries, best-selling authors, museums, telecom giants, and Hollywood producers.
You are stuck if you seriously believe that there are no ideas, you don’t know how to get out of the stagnation, and if you know how to get out, but doubt your abilities. In these cases, you need to do this:
I ask myself, am I really stuck? Sometimes we still generate a lot of ideas, but for some reason we convince ourselves that this is a creative crisis. And then, a creative crisis is also something new: you need to perceive it as a new experience.
I do nothing. If you are stuck, it means that you cannot clearly identify the problem that prevents you from moving on. The best medicine in this situation is a new perspective. By abstracting from the problem, I can see it better. I can go to the cinema or to the museum - one way or another, new impressions will push me to the right decision.
I switch to what I'm good at to remind myself that I'm awesome.. Sometimes I know how to solve a problem, but the solution seems very heavy. Then I take on other, simple tasks: it can be a blog post, cleaning the garage, whatever. Performing tasks quickly and well, I am convinced that I can do everything: and even the most difficult task seems to be just another item that needs to be crossed off the to-do list. And no more panic.
air side
A creative agency from the UK that knows exactly what an ideological block can lead to a dead end and what to do about it. The creators of the studio, which has won many awards from D&AD and Design Week, this year decided to close it and do their own projects: record a music album, go to Tokyo, go to work in another agency.
“Set your alarm for 5 am. When it rings, either get up and enjoy this unique time of day, or go back to sleep and have vivid, crazy dreams: since you will be in the REM stage, they will remain in your head after you wake up and charge you with creativity for all day.
Don't sit and wait for something to pop into your head. Do not read magazines, do not search on Google - go to the street, to the theater, to the museum, for a walk. Be sure to turn off your phone and do not take your computer with you.
Expand your area of interest. The more you consume a cultural product, the better you can understand what your client wants to see in the end. Exchange opinions with colleagues, look at your project from different angles.
On the other hand, you can, on the contrary, not listen to anyone, abstract from all the rules and work as you feel and as you like. If you are tired of the fact that in the creative industry everything comes down to a compromise between the customer and the performer, just rely on your creative instinct and try to infect others with it.
“I have a lot of tricks for such situations: for example, look at photos on the Internet, change the desktop to a table in a coffee shop, and much more. But it's best to just talk to your friends. They look at things in a completely different way than I do and tell a lot of new things: they can throw up a cool inspiring photo or just cheer with a couple of good words - it always makes you move on!”
Invisible Creature
The two founders of the Seattle-based design studio are former punk rockers who embraced the DIY aesthetic and incorporated it into their designs. Received orders from Esquire, New York Times, Nike and Sony.
"Leave. This simple word has a million possible scenarios. We're just leaving the office. Where we end up, we never know in advance: it can be a bookstore, a cinema, a park, a forest, a river bank, or just a house. The goal is always the same - to find something that inspires. Not necessarily something new: it should be something that will make us return to the table, pick up a pencil and start drawing. We also spend our weekly meetings not in the office, but in a local cafe - there we always get more good ideas.
My first blog, I devote to a topic familiar to every musician. Perhaps when you started making electronic music, you had success at first... You are talented and you know that you have musical ability, imagination and of course ear. In whatever style you tried to try yourself, everything turned out very easily and successfully. Then you decided to take one direction and improve in it. You created grandiose compositions in your opinion, but in the opinion of others they were raw and not interesting... You continued to do what you loved, despite the fact that others did not support your idea... Then you stopped. Thinking about quitting your favorite hobby and focusing on more important things... Time has passed. Hands reach out to play on any VST plug-in.... A new image of a musical picture is drawn in my head. But here - a wall suddenly appears in front of your eyes, which closes your view of your future track ... and you are in despair. Once again you are convinced that this is not your way... Where to get inspiration... How to achieve professionalism in what is so close and pleasant to you? Questions that concern me... With each new level of your growth, with each new track, you must grow professionally. It would seem that the new tracks should be better. Otherwise, the next level is too tough for you. How to pull yourself together and make your brain and all your abilities work at 100%? Where to get the emotional strength for such a decisive step??? ...
I wrote the first track in 2012... I didn't even know what real trance was. Didn't know what house is? What is Progressive and what is Melodic. What is Ambient and Chillout I had no idea at all. I just wrote what I heard in my head.. What was inside me. My emotions pushed me to write music. Is always. I was successful for my first level... With every new track I brought something new. But there came a point when I thought that I would never be able to reach the professional level. At least the level of DJs at the radio station. After all, when you listen to modern electronic tracks, it seems that everything is not so complicated. And musical education is not needed to write such a simple melody.. And I thought - I will try it too .... In fact, everything turned out to be completely different. Tracks are complex in that a lot of time has been invested in them for competent processing (equalization, compression, mixing and mastering). Also, the sounds themselves in conventional VSTs are not of very high quality, so the pros specifically wind up the sound they need (with the right echo, delay, chorus, and cut) ... How cool it is to be able to do this! How difficult it is to write a rocking bass so that it does not overlap an equally important kick. There is no simple design in life! Even a ballpoint pen is not easy to use! So here....
I stopped. Now I feel that I'm far from cool musicians... "When there is no inspiration"... Don't give up and stand firmly on your feet! Success is not universal popularity and worldwide fame. Success is not exhausted by funds on a bank card! Success is an inner feeling of confidence, a balanced and correct belief in yourself and your strengths! People can support and help! But until you believe in yourself, you will not feel true confidence! And I decided to do it! I want to go to the next level! And the next one and beyond.
"When there is no inspiration, when you do not believe in yourself,
Loss of inspiration is a serious problem for any freelancer. It's terrible to feel that you can't solve a given problem because you don't have any original ideas. There are only clichés in my head, endless repetitions of the same approach, but something new and breakthrough is needed. From time to time, each person realizes that he needs to look at what he is doing, from a different point of view, this helps to throw off the shackles of past experience and thereby awaken creativity. Is it possible to regain lost inspiration? Of course you can, there is no doubt about it. You just need to understand how the problem arose and start working on its solution.
It often happens that the loss of inspiration is associated with creative burnout or falling into a comfort zone. Interesting ideas arise only when there is food for the mind and when a person is in good physical shape. If a freelancer overworks seriously, sooner or later the day will come when he will be so tired that he will not be able to give the good result that the customer needs. Freelancing is a real job, which is quite difficult if you give 100 percent.
Therefore, you need to rest. The digital world is so captivating that many simply forget how many interesting things are around. If the muse suddenly left in an unknown direction, then the best way to return it is to leave the house. You can go on a short trip, for example, to a neighboring city. It is not expensive at all, but it gives a strong emotional jolt. It will take quite a bit of time for such a trip, while the effect will be very noticeable. A little adventure is just what you need if creativity is at zero. In addition, it will turn out to relax a little and at least for a while forget about business.
And you might as well not go anywhere. A good option are long walks around the city or the park. A change of scenery is very helpful in finding new ideas. You can explore unusual places, see how buildings are decorated or what ideas have been implemented in outdoor advertising. Checked, it helps.
Freelancing is creative work. But if there is a lot of routine in business, this is bad, because routine kills the creative spirit. If the loss of inspiration is due to the fact that the work has become boring and varied, then you should add more positive to your life. And it will be right. A freelancer cannot expect everything he does to be insanely interesting and exciting. There will always be a routine and you need to learn how to work productively day after day, consistently performing both interesting and boring tasks.
Parallel creative activity helps to return the lost inspiration. When workdays get completely dull, you can set aside time for dancing, drawing, or some other creative activity. This will not only diversify life, but also increase creativity. A change of activity allows you to spur the imagination and there are very good chances that during such creative breaks an interesting idea or solution to a problem will come to mind.
Usually a freelancer works with the same set of tools, as it is convenient for him. But such an approach is fraught with great danger, since in such work there is little room for inspiration. Yes, the toolkit, in which the freelancer is thoroughly versed, is of great importance, but it often happens that a task appears that is difficult to solve with the usual set of tools.
In this case, you need to leave your comfort zone and see if there are any means or approaches that will help you find new solutions to the problem. New programs, plugins, actions are constantly appearing on the Internet, and it is imperative to keep track of which of all this will help to increase the level of a freelancer. A new tool or life hack is always a new experience. And if you have experience, then you will definitely have ideas on how to use it.
Change of working environment
Inspiration can be found in the most unexpected places. And for this, sometimes you don’t even need to leave your home - just change the working environment. If a designer who is used to working in graphic editors suddenly feels that inspiration has left him, then you can try to return it by starting to work with a pencil and paper. This is a very good brain shake. Unusual tactile sensations, a completely different kind of design elements often help to find a creative idea. This experience can be so useful that it should definitely be used during a creative decline.
Working in a different environment forces you to use new approaches and at this time very interesting thoughts can appear. The same applies to other areas of activity. If a copywriter who is planning to write an article writes it first by hand, such text will most likely be different from the text typed on the keyboard.
Changing the working environment is one of the options for working under restrictions. In order to come up with something new, sometimes it is not even necessary to leave the digital environment - it is enough to change the device. You can, for example, try to implement the idea using a smartphone. This is not so convenient, this is a limitation that forces us to look for new approaches.
In search of lost inspiration, it is imperative to communicate with enthusiastic people. And it is not at all necessary that these are people who work in the same field as the freelancer. Someone else's passion is contagious. It often happens when there are so many events and drive in the life of another person that you involuntarily begin to envy him. It is at such moments that the understanding comes that you can find a lot of interesting things in your business, you just need to sincerely wish for changes and be open to everything new.
Yes, inspiration very often disappears when the work becomes monotonous. For some time, you can travel on your own professionalism and past developments, but this cannot last long. There will come a time when all the interesting ideas run out and a creative stupor sets in.
One way to regain lost inspiration is to visit museums, exhibitions and similar places. And it is best if it is such an exposition that does not resonate with what the freelancer does. Any art gallery is a real concentrate of someone else's creativity. Looking at the work of other people, you can understand what motivated them when they created their works. A visit to a museum or exhibition can provide a lot of food for thought. Everything in the world is interconnected and a good idea can appear unexpectedly. A designer who is unsuccessfully trying to prototype a site may well find a solution by visiting a construction equipment exhibition. Any exposition is, first of all, the result of the hard work of many people, and it really impresses and charges with positive.
And if there is positive, then there will be inspiration.
Recently, I faced such a problem as the loss of inspiration. To get at least some advice, I began to study the forums. There are a lot of notes on the return of our Muse, but many sites do not give a clearly formulated answer, the return of inspiration is said superficially. Therefore, I decided to study this issue in more depth. Many people confuse the departure of inspiration with a creative crisis. Believe me, it's not the same. First, let's figure out what is the reason for the loss of inspiration. 1. The most common reason is banal fatigue. We all try to get our work done within 24 hours. But our body is very deceptive. You can feel good for a long time and work without interruption, but on one “beautiful” day, all ideas, thoughts, inspiration will disappear. If this happens, I advise you to rest. Sleep, relax, you can even meditate. 2. Another factor is the narrowing of horizons. Very often we dwell on one topic, read articles, blogs, get inspired by thematic pictures. Meanwhile, our brain, not receiving new, and most importantly, diverse information, generates ideas more and more slowly and sluggishly. Start reading books, watch a new movie, go to the cinema or theater. In general, change the environment around you, then inspiration will definitely appear. 3. The muse can also disappear due to the fact that there is no reaction from others. The reaction of the outside world is important for a creative person. He wants to hear approval from readers, other artists, poets, and people in general. Reviews inspire, energize and even give self-confidence. Ask a friend to comment on your work, this will make you sit down again at the canvas or at a blank sheet of paper (or at least open Word). 4. Another important point is unfinished projects. Probably, each of us has our own box in which we store unfinished work. Tired, no time, I stopped liking the topic, difficulties arose, the material ended - because of this, fan fiction, paintings, poems and much, much more can settle in this box for a week, a month, or even not wait for completion at all. And such works are accumulated as a heavy burden on the soul. And such a situation arises - the hands do not reach the end of the old, and you cannot start the new. Therefore, I advise you not to refer to "laziness", "lack of time", but simply take and add fanfiction or finish the picture. In general, complete all your undertakings. Then your Muse will definitely come back to you. 5. Often the root of the problem is the same type of work. The use of the same information, the same descriptions and other things that may annoy you. Way out: find new material, try your hand at a different genre (like I do today), change the presentation technique. And then the Muse will quickly walk towards you. These are the most common reasons for the disappearance of inspiration, as well as ways to return it. But there are other ways to attract the muse. 1. Look at other people's work. If you write poetry, then read the classics (or any work you like). If you draw, then feel free to go to the gallery (or turn on the works of Leonardo Da Vinci on your computer, for example). If you are fond of writing fanfiction, then it would be nice to read some work of an author already known on ficbook. I'm sure your muse will quickly return to you. 2. Copy yourself. No matter how strange it may sound, but try to repeat your work. And someday you will realize how talented you are. 3. Look for inspiration in the social. networks. No, no, do not be distracted from work, namely, look for. You can find pictures, music, articles that will inspire you. 4. Listen to music. Take a break from problems with the help of a melody. I advise you to listen to the classics, it inspires many. 5. Open up to the world. Stop avoiding dating and sitting in your shell. Meet new people. You can find support from them, and inspiration will come by itself. 6. Change the environment. Create your own comfort zone in which you want to create. Even if you move the flower from the windowsill to the table, then this is already something. 7. Start writing on paper. How often do we use Word or other editors, forgetting about such a native A4 sheet. Take a piece of paper with a pen and write whatever comes to mind. You can describe yourself, how your day went, new acquaintances. Write and describe everything you see. This will help you relax. Your brain in an unfamiliar environment will work differently and give you ideas. You can also take old ideas and bring them to life. Another miraculous way is work. Work through "can't" and your inspiration will just come up from behind and see what's so interesting you're doing. Then he will correct you, and then he will take everything into his own hands. I hope that my article at least helped someone. Well, I'm going to finish writing fanfiction and bring ideas to life.
