The only problem? I get so indecisive with how to let out that creativity. Sometimes I need to write, but I don’t know what to write. I have a few work in progress novels but I can never decide which one to just stick to and thrash out the plot. I’m learning to draw, but sometimes I’m at that stage where I’m not confident or knowledgeable enough to draw from the depths of my imagination without it looking like a 3 year old scribbled on some paper. It’s quite funny really. I only know how to draw heads right now, and I struggle to draw in proportion bodies. It’s just how do I make sure that the neck isn’t too fat or skinny for my subject’s head and that everything is aligned and looks, well, human? The other day I tried drawing a body and it ended up looking like a demented alien. And trust me, you DO NOT want to see that.
Regarding the fore-mentioned novels, I know I should be focused on writing them. But when your thoughts are constantly whirring about all the small things in life, it’s hard to just quieten it down enough to remain focused at the task in hand. Either that, or I start writing and I think I like the direction it’s going in and then I just hit a stumbling block and I can’t seem to get past it. Or the voice of the character starts irritating me so I start experimenting constantly. This usually leads me to getting fed up of the whole plot and starting from scratch. So I re-plan and rewrite everything all over again. Literally down to the T.
It can get tiring doing this all over again when I’m not happy with my writing. But I think it’s a process that many writers go through. And I’m sure people in other creative fields do it too - possibly journalists, designers, artists… anyone really, they too start off with something they’re excited about and then probably end up scrapping half of it away before they’re finally satisfied with the end product.
So what I’m hoping to do to finally unleash my creativity is by putting aside some time just for my novel writing a day. An hour or two at first, then gradually build it up to a maximum of four. This way I feel like I have been productive with most of my day, and occasionally drawing character sketches when I can’t think of anything to add to it. Perhaps doing it this way will encourage and set me up for doing NaNoWriMo for the second time and a second year in a row. Last year it gave me a huge self esteem boost knowing I could write 50,000 words in a month. Maybe, just maybe doing it again will give me the courage and knowledge that last year’s attempt at winning NaNo wasn’t just a fluke but also true determination.
What do you guys do when you are feeling frustrated and creativity constipated? Is that even a thing? Well it can be a term now. Do you do writing exercises, draw random doodles or just listen to music until you feel the cap has been lifted and you can be creative once again? I’d love to know in the comments.
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