art block, writerâs block, âart funkâ, âburnoutâ, yada yada⊠itâs all the same thing, being a creator and wanting to create but having some kind of a wall preventing you from doing this.
this wall can take a lot of different forms, and iâm going to approach this post from the perspective of a visual artist, but no matter the medium, we all have a skill weâve trained ourselves in and what Iâm talking about will apply regardless.
Anyway as I said thereâs a few different forms this wall can take. Hereâs a few of them that I can think of:
Disillusionment with your current skill level
Itâs really important to identify exactly what your wall is if you want to be able to dismantle it. This isnât every way it can manifest either, just the most common ways that I see it manifesting, and you might have multiple at once!
Take some time to really self reflect on what the problem is if none of these are resonating after youâve read the post, whatever it is you can find a way to manage it.
The most common advice I see for âdefeating [creatorâs] blockâ is committing to spending like five minutes a day working on something, anything at all. And thatâs good advice! but not really for creatorâs block, I think.
Itâs GREAT advice if youâre lacking in discipline though, like I can easily get distracted and not work on things for months. So committing to work on comic related things for at least 30 minutes a day (and having this commitment be to other people that Iâm checking in with each day, i think thats an important part) has worked really well for me, personally.
But I wasnât dealing with any kind of a block, I just lacked discipline. I donât think itâs very useful if for example, you hate how your art looks so you donât want to draw anything anymore lmao
With that in mind, lets go through that list and Iâll try give you some advice from my experiences, and hopefully itâll help give you the means to identify the problems youâre struggling with and find solutions to them if my advice isnât quite what you need.
1. Disillusionment with your current skill level
So! itâs time to pull out everyoneâs favourite graphic! this version was created by shattered-earth on deviantart, though the original is by Marc Dalessio
obviously this says art, but again this is applicable to all mediums. Itâs an important concept to understand, the idea of a creatorâs high vs a creatorâs low depending on how developed your critical eye has become compared to your skill level.
If youâre not aware of it and donât understand whatâs happening, itâs REALLY easy to lose all motivation to create anything. Because why bother, if everything sucks? Definitely one of the most dangerous blocks you can run into, I think.
The solution, as with all of these walls, is to be kind to yourself.
Your critical eye improving is emotionally taxing, but itâs also an opportunity for great growth! Itâs not easy, though. To get through it, you have to really confront what you donât like about your work and target your weaknesses, and then you have to put in the time to try and improve them. Thatâs tough.
But self study doesnât have to be a solo activity. Talk with your friends, seek out communities of creators, and follow resource blogs, channels, etc. I really think the best thing you can do is surround yourself with other creators, Iâm in a few discords and hang out in the creative section of various forums etc
But this is really important: The act of targetting your weaknesses in order to improve them is going to make it REALLY easy for you to lose track of what you like about your work, and can in fact compound the issue and make you only focus on your flaws.
So, be kind to yourself. If youâre not happy with what you create, take the time to critically analyse your work. What donât you like? What do you like? Donât lose track of what you like while you study the things youâre less confident about, and with some patience and work your skill will catch up with your eye again.
I really canât emphasise enough how important it is to not lose track of what it is you like about your work. The biggest motivation killer is always going to be falling out of love with your work, so do everything you can to prevent yourself losing the joy of creating.
Like, sure, a work might be technically perfect, but did you enjoy yourself while creating it? If you always ensure the answer to that is yes, the mismatch between your critical eye and your skills will be easier to handle because at least youâre still enjoying yourself, you know?
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