Have your creative juices dried up?
Have you sat down with the intention to write and nothing of quality is flowing from your mind?
Has it been sometime since you last wrote anything you like or consider worthy of sharing?
In this guide Author & Poet Simon Mack talks about his experiences with writers block when it comes to poetry, and how he handles the frustrating scenario.
Poetry is a creative medium, and in order to write of worth I have always understood that you need to be in the right 'zone'.
Hitting that sweet spot of feeling like the words are going to flow onto the page with little effort is a hugely satisfying place for any poet to find themselves in. For me when that place arrives I can often write several pieces of good quality in quick succession, but at the same time finding that place of creativity I have always found cannot be forced either.
Life's experiences lead to a place of creative clarity or stimulation, and I'm sure many of you reading this will have jobs, responsibilities, children, partners, bills, home improvement & other demands on your time and mental balance.
Within all of the 'day to day' it can seem almost impossible to land in that expressive domain, and at times it can feel like it has been a long time since you have found it.
So what can we do amongst all of the frantic pace of our lives to find that spark?
For me the solution lies in creative experiences.
The day might have been a horror, and stress levels may have been high, but allowing yourself the opportunity to enjoy art for me really affords the opportunity to reset my mental state, remove myself from all of the 'fuzz' and feel both motivated and excited about what is about to be created.
The words begin to arrive, and at times I have to stop what I'm doing and take time to capture the nuggets that are arriving at the tips of my fingers.
Be it a movie, a concert, theatre or even a street performer breaking up my walk to work, that oasis of mental space and freedom to imagine and jump the tracks from the mundane lights the fuse to the dynamite mining of imaginative freedom.
Ending a baron spell or creativity cannot be forced in my experience, and sitting down to write when the flare isn't within you for me is a chafing and pointless exercise.
Having written to paid deadline over the years copywrite or journalism is a more mechanical & formatted process that allows the author to grind the facts onto the page in a coherent and professional manner. With poetry this is just not possible, and without the whisps of artistic wander in your mind the end result will not be of note.
I've written poetry for over 40 years and have had spells where there has been no notion to create that have lasted for a year or more. Does it frighten me? Not anymore!
I have learnt that if you have creativity within you it will return, and when the words being to dart around my mind again the result is a plethora of works that I am proud of.
I've learnt over time about myself, understood myself better, and figured out what can be the inertia of creativity, and I would encourage all creative writers to listen to themselves, understand their own being and comprehend the experiences or scenarios that drive them to be creative.
Keep it legal!
I have never found any substance that has assisted with this process, and in fact the presence of any sort of drug or alcohol renders me unable to write anything of quality.
The experience (once coherent!) may evoke the emotion to write about your journey, but using any substance to write creatively for me is not at all of any benefit.
I hope you have found this piece useful, and if you are in a period of 'block' right now my advice is relax, your flow will return. Use other's creativity to stimulate yours. Sit and people watch for a while and hunt for the genesis of your creativity within the tapestry of all our fibre. Educate yourself about you! Understand you and your various cogs, and comprehend what takes you to a place of clear and rampant creativity!
There's nothing quite like it!
Take care & thanks for reading
Simon
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