I’m quite sure this is something that everyone struggles with, whether you are an author, an artist or a graphic designer. We are all human and sometimes the creative juices slow down and worse yet, come to a screeching halt.
There are a number of things that we can do to re-invigorate this process. Everyone is different and not all of these will work for everyone, but these are my go to practices when my creative world has stalled.
1. Walk away from the project or the computer. Walk away from the project for a while and do something else for a while. Watch a movie. Listen to music. Sleep on it and come back to it with fresh eyes the next day. Even if an idea comes to you, just jot it down on that notepad by your bed, and explore that thought the next day. Sometimes your idea or concept just needs time to fully formulate and develop. I’ve had many projects that I started one way, and by the end, they ended up quite different from the way I initially intended. A lot of times this evolution is exactly what the project needed to become what it has, even better than I could have initially imagined.
2. Listen to Music. If you can, listen to music. My process doesn’t always allow for this. Especially if it’s something new and I’m trying to learn a new technique. I need peace and quiet. This is why I do the bulk of my work when the kids and hubby are at school and work, respectively. However, it’s something that isn’t new and I don’t need to learn anything new, then usually the tunes are being cranked. You can also use music to set the tone for a project. For example, if it’s dark and moody, it may be helpful to immerse yourself in dark and moody music. Create yourself different playlists for each project. This could also just become part of your creative process for each project. Much like creating an audio mood board.
3. Grab a piece of paper and a pencil. Yup! That’s right, I said paper and pencil, we’re going old school. Let’s use these tools to just doodle (I’m not that great at doodling, but hey?! Why not!), or you could write things down. Whatever method you choose, but get it down and BRAINSTORM! You can write or doodle anything and everything down that comes to mind and no self-editing. Just leave it there. We can cull those ideas later. You can do this as a timed event or have it lying around and keep going back to it for a day or two (this is my favourite). After you’ve completed this phase, you can then go back over what you’ve got and begin to eliminate things that don’t work with your concept and this is also where you can further expand on ideas you think will work for your project.
4. Work on something else. If you’ve got a few things on the go, you can certainly divide your time between projects. Likely they are very different from each other. Sometimes that’s just what you need, seeing things from a different perspective. If you’re working on multiple projects, maybe there is something from one project that could be used in another project or it could spark an idea that takes you in different direction. When I’m between larger projects, I’ve been trying to work on pre-made book covers. This allows me to create covers that touch on different moods for each cover and not to mention, this helps me keep up on my Photoshop skills.
5. Pinterest! Pinterest is your best friend. There are so many ideas on millions of topics. You may lose a few hours to the black hole of Pinterest, but you’ll come out with ideas. I love that you can create different boards for each project, technique…really however you want to organize it. But, there is literally something for everyone on Pinterest. Don’t underestimate this resource at all. And no, I have no affiliation with Pinterest, I’m just an addict, who uses it religiously.
Hopefully, these ideas help you to keep your creative juices flowing. These are just a few of the tools and techniques that I use to keep me going. And don’t ever underestimate just relying on your life experiences. These experiences are unique to you and you can utilize them to master your creations and to really help you set yourself apart from others.
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