Sometimes people assume that I am able to access my creativity on demand like a never ending stream of lager on a free bar at the wedding you gatecrashed yesterday.
That's not strictly true.
My creative muse is stroppy, sensitive and a massive pain in the bum at times. She's like the worlds worst saturday girl if I was a shop and she was working there. She's always popping off for a fag out the back, texting her mates and looking at me with disdain when I dare to ask her to pull her finger out and do some work.
However, I am quite good at dragging her back into play if she goes AWOL.
Here are some things to try and know if you are dealing with this at the moment.
1 - Stop forcing it or you'll get creative piles. This is easy,stop forcing it,put it down, BACK AWAY. Also if you force it whoever reads or looks at the finished thing will probbaly pick up all that force and tension and you'll end up having to do it over again. So save yourself some pain now and force it no more.
2 - Do something boring. There are so many boring things to do as an adult so i'll let you choose, but i find the focus on doing something boring allows my brain to wander and play especially if i'm stuck. Likewise staring out of windows on public transport and let your mind mull over a problem or sticking point is a great one.
3 - Get off your phone and do some research the old fashioned way- books are full of inspiration. Join the library, haunt the book section of the charity shop, revisit your favourites on your home bookshelf.
4 - Go outside - this is easy. Go outside for a bit. However this looks for you. You don't have to be doing anything beautiful or epic, just go outside and look up, the sky is pretty good, if there isn't much else catching your eye. Breathe. It's good for your brain and keeps you alive.
5 - Creative games - sometimes the brain needs tricking into action, if you are a writer maybe you could play some doodle games like drawing with your less dominant hand or doodling a self portrait in 5 mins with one line. For me as the majority of what I do is drawing,I like to play with words and write silly poems that make me laugh.
6 - Reset yourself before you wreck yourself - Without wanting to turn this into a blog post about having a bath and living your own best vision board, sometimes if you are not feeling creative, it could be a physical thing. Do you need a sleep? Have you had a decent lunch? Are you feeling sluggish because you have been sat down for seventy million hours? Are you upset about something? Sometimes, when I address these physical needs I can then get creative. Our bodies and minds are linked up as we know.
7 - Know that you are not abandoned. This is an important one. Your creativity is part of you it isn't going anywhere but it does need nurturing, what have you been feeding it? Junk food? Bland food? The same thing every single day? It may be worth looking at.
Let me know how you get on!