CHUD.com Community › Forums › ARTS & LITERATURE › Paint, Clay, Ink, and Blood › Lacking inspiration...what do you do?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Lacking inspiration...what do you do?

post #1 of 23
6/30/02 at 2:46am
Thread Starter 
I'm severely lacking any inspiration these days. I'm wondering what you guys do when your creativity hits a brick wall at 100mph (that's 160.9344 kph for you limeys )?

I need help.
Reply
post #2 of 23
6/30/02 at 4:50am
I don't know. I've never really thought about it. At the moment, I'm buzzing with ideas but I don't think it's anything in particular I've done. To be honest, spending time on these boards and seeing what everyone else is doing inspires me more than anything.

I don't consciously look for ideas, but I always keep one eye or ear open just in case. Sometimes it'll be something on the news, or in a magazine. I seem to be blessed (or cursed) with a mind that shoots off at tangents, so I can take something from real life and extrapolate it into a sci-fi or horror setting without too much effort. Getting it into proper shape for a story is harder work, and that requires a few days or weeks of chewing the idea over in my head, trying to find a way in and a way out again for the story to make sense.

I think the pretty useless answer is: stop looking for inspiration - the more you try and force it, the less chance you have. Trust in your instincts to pick up on a good idea, and have fun with it.
Reply
post #3 of 23
7/3/02 at 12:16pm
Don't worry about it mate.

Chances are your trying too hard.

If I have a block I just quit for a while or I usually look at my idea folder.
Reply
post #4 of 23
7/3/02 at 3:08pm
Or masturbate furiously like a demented monkey for a few days. That'll clear the creative channels.
Reply
post #5 of 23
7/3/02 at 5:46pm
idea folder = porn

No really, I do have a folder full of ideas that I want to incorporate into one story or another.

Also I do like Stephen King and ask, what if questions.
Reply
post #6 of 23
7/3/02 at 6:04pm
Dunno, Ego. Mostly I just look at other people's stuff and get upset that I didn't think of it.

When I am in writing mode, I usually just start doing free-writing. You know, where you just type and see what happens? Usually, that leads to interesting ideas, even if you scrap the free-writing in the process.
Reply
post #7 of 23
7/3/02 at 6:05pm
And when I'm at a loss for what to draw, I just start with a small line that leads into something else, as guided by my internal creative dialogues.
Reply
post #8 of 23
7/3/02 at 8:23pm
Quote:
Army of the DJE:
And when I'm at a loss for what to draw, I just start with a small line that leads into something else, as guided by my internal creative dialogues.
Yeah, all three to be exact. lol
Reply
post #9 of 23
7/3/02 at 10:04pm
i work on something else. if i am stuck on a painting then i write. if it's writing, then i teach myself a new craft (this week it's Crochet). sometimes i have to really go out in left field and do something like get a new piercing or tattoo....
Reply
post #10 of 23
7/4/02 at 1:03am
Take a walk.

Eat chocolate.

Go to <a href="http://www.scriptsales.com" target="_blank">www.scriptsales.com</a> and see the utter nightmares that are getting sold.

Call my friend/collaborator Mark and say, "Now what?"

No easy answer.

Sometimes, the muse packs her fucking bags and stays a while at her mother's.

Wait.

Think.

But, most of all...

Write.

Writer's block hates it when you produce.

It goes away.

PEACE.

Reply
post #11 of 23
7/5/02 at 12:39pm
When I get writer's block, I look to other sources of inspiration. I'll watch a movie, I'll watch TV (esp. Discovery Channel, TLC or History Channel), I'll hit the comic shop and just browse the shelves, sometimes I'll go to the bookstore and do the same.

The best thing to do is keep, as others have mentioned, an "idea folder" on your computer. I currently have about 100 short, 1-2 page ideas written down that just sit there until I need them. Maybe I'll never do anything with them, but at least they're there when things are feeling slow as far as my creativity goes. Often I'll go randomly read one or two or forty and something will happen for me - again, it might not be developing the story I just read the idea for, but it will inspire another tangent to run with.
Reply
post #12 of 23
7/6/02 at 6:58am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the suggestions and all the input.

I'm still having an artistic block right now, but I'm slowly working through it in a different medium. I'm concentrating on my dvd viewing and snacking techniques and honing my skills in the ancient art of sleeping.

I'll get through it. Actually I'm just in a real slump when it comes time for the proverbial pen to hit the paper. Can't seem to get much going with it right now. Fortunately, neither my job or my livelihood depend on that...kinda wish it did though...

Dan, there any jobs out in London for a soon-to-be-retired network engineer who has a penchant for art and coffee?
Reply
post #13 of 23
7/6/02 at 7:59am
Quote:
Kid Ego:
Dan, there any jobs out in London for a soon-to-be-retired network engineer who has a penchant for art and coffee?
I have no idea - I live about 250 miles from London at the other end of the country. But I imagine there are.

If you're serious, I can recommend some UK job sites for ya.
Reply
post #14 of 23
7/6/02 at 8:14am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Dan Whitehead vs Candid Gamera:
I have no idea - I live about 250 miles from London at the other end of the country. But I imagine there are.

If you're serious, I can recommend some UK job sites for ya.
Sorry...I thought you were LON based. Actually I am pretty serious, I really wouldn't mind moving across the pond...
Reply
post #15 of 23
7/6/02 at 3:57pm
i just noticed you are in Tulsa!!! holy poo! you need to go to Revolution held the last Sat. of every month... now if i can just recall the name of the club that it's at... RoadKill? it's next to a comedy club off Lewis. go there. meet DJ DeathJest (Brian), LoveGoth (Tim, the ONLY black man there in a wig), Julz and Jack, and GothMoth (Ouida). they are some wonderful people and very fun to hang with. When you go, tell Tim (LoveGoth) that "Everything is so DARK and TRAGIC, or that's what Delaney says..." you'll be his friend in a heart beat. sometimes meeting new people can help a Writers Block
Reply
post #16 of 23
7/6/02 at 4:30pm
Quote:
Kid Ego:
Actually I am pretty serious, I really wouldn't mind moving across the pond...
Check your e-mail.
Reply
post #17 of 23
7/7/02 at 7:31am
Thread Starter 
Thanks Dan, I got those links! Good stuff out there...

I'm currently looking at how hard it's going to be to break into the perm job market over there though from here. Damn there's some strict guidlines about work visas and stuff...
Reply
post #18 of 23
7/7/02 at 7:33am
Thread Starter 
I'm BACK!

I got my creativity back this morning! Currently 3 pages into a decent plot outline for a mystery/detective novel/story.

Wow...a wonderful feeling!
Reply
post #19 of 23
7/7/02 at 9:10am
just as long as the butler didn't do it, i think we are fine. glad you are back!!
Reply
post #20 of 23
7/7/02 at 8:31pm
Well, the butler DID do it, with the maid, in the library, but this is really the wrong board for that....

"When you go, tell Tim (LoveGoth) that "Everything is so DARK and TRAGIC, or that's what Delaney says..." you'll be his friend in a heart beat. sometimes meeting new people can help a Writers Block"

From what I've heard of Tim, he's enough material for several characters.
Reply
post #21 of 23
7/8/02 at 6:33pm
Tim **IS** several characters! it's too funny to see him bust into Gangsta mode. it throws you off SOO much! you're like, what happened to that nice guy that was just here....
Reply
post #22 of 23
7/9/02 at 4:50pm
Ok, so YOU wrote the script for The Big Lebowski!
Reply
post #23 of 23
7/22/02 at 11:10am
I listen to music when I hit that brick wall, the kind with haunting melodies. Music and creativity are synonymous.
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Paint, Clay, Ink, and Blood
CHUD.com Community › Forums › ARTS & LITERATURE › Paint, Clay, Ink, and Blood › Lacking inspiration...what do you do?