If there is one thing that unites musicians and the people who write about them it is the constant struggle to maintain their creativity. It does not matter if you are a blogger or fronting the world’s biggest band, there will be times in this life when you are not able to create at a level you feel is good enough. Call it writer’s block or some mental hurdle; the name doesn’t matter nearly as much as the recognition this resistance is both real and universal. Everyone who attempts to create anything faces these struggles, but that understanding doesn’t make your ability to complete your work any easier.
On a recent episode of his podcast, comedian Joey ‘Coco’ Diaz was speaking with fellow comic Tom Segura about longevity in stand up. Both Joey and Segura are headliners in comedy today, but it took years of hard work and thousands of jokes to reach that level. Still, both men constantly find themselves at a creative impasse. While talking about this on air, Diaz mentioned advice he once received from legendary comedian Paul Mooney when discussing his creative hurdles. Mooney’s advice was summaries in three simple words: get entertained.
I know what some of you are thinking: Get entertained? But I have deadlines! People are counting on me to finish this thing, and it needs to be something great, and it needs to be done now!
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you’re so stuck that you’re reading articles like this about overcoming mental blocks, then the chance of your work being completed to the best of your abilities in the next hour or so is highly unlikely. You have thought about the thoughts you are trying to think too much, which is to say you’ve begun to work yourself in circles. You’re chasing ghosts of ideas you thought you might have at a time other than right now and no amount of searching is going to make them miraculously appear.
Your brain, like your biceps or any other muscle, can only work so much before it needs to rest. To work more efficiently your mind needs exercise, which in the case of creative people includes inspiration in the form of experiences. You are the total of everything you have experienced up to this point, and those experiences have now become both your source of inspiration and – hopefully – income. To continue feeling inspired to create you need to keep taking in new experiences. I say this not just for your work, but for your sanity. You can drive yourself crazy starring at an empty canvas, or you can go out, see or hear or touch or taste or smell something that moves you, then immediately feel the need to create once more purposefully.
That may read like common sense to some readers, but the up and comers still trying to get their foot in the door will think it’s crazy because they’ve been taught this industry does not allow for breaks. Who has time to watch a television show, let alone a two-hour feature film, when emails are flowing like water at all hours of the day? Add to this the need to maintain social channels, which can require posting up to (if not more than) ten separate feeds on any given day, and we haven’t even addressed the actual work any creative is trying to accomplish. Writing songs or stories takes time, but so does finding inspiration, and far too often we forget that fact.
You are only human, and your brain is just a muscle. To perform at your best, you have to rest and exercise, but physically and mentally, on a daily basis. It’s both that simple and that hard, but like any other meaningful routine in life, it is worth the effort.
So the next time you find yourself banging your head against a wall while trying to create your next masterpiece try taking a step back for an hour, night, or even a couple of days. See a movie, go on a hike, or just put on your favorite records. Spend time remembering why you love the thing you do so you can then share that love with the world at large. We’ll be here, ready and waiting to experience what you decide to share.
If there is one thing that unites musicians and the people who write about them it is the constant struggle to maintain their creativity. It does not matter if you are a blogger or fronting the world’s biggest band, there will be times in this life when you are not able to create at a level you feel is good enough. Call it writer’s block or some kind of mental hurdle, the name doesn’t matter nearly as much as the recognition this resistance is both real and universal. Everyone who attempt to create anything faces these struggles, but that understanding doesn’t make your ability to complete your work any easier.
On a recent episode of his podcast, comedian Joey ‘Coco’ Diaz was speaking with fellow comic Tom Segura about longevity in stand up. Both Joey and Segura are headliners in comedy today, but it took years of hard work and thousands of jokes in order to reach that level. Still, both men constantly find themselves at a creative impasse. While talking about this on air Diaz mentioned advice he once received from legendary comedian Paul Mooney when discussing his creative hurdles. Mooney’s advice was summaries in three simple words: Go get entertained.
I know what some of you are thinking: Get entertained? But I have deadlines! There are people counting on me to finish this thing and it needs to be something great and it needs to be done now!
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you’re so stuck that you’re reading articles like this about overcoming mental blocks then the chance of your work being completed to the best of your abilities in the next hour or so is highly unlikely. You have thought about the thoughts you are trying to think too much, which is to say you’ve begun to work yourself in circles. You’re chasing ghosts of ideas you thought you might have at a time other than right now and no amount of searching is going to make them miraculously appear.
Your brain, like your biceps or any other muscle, can only work so much before it needs to rest. In order to work more efficiently your brain needs exercise, which in the case of creative people includes inspiration in the form of experiences. You are the sum total of everything you have experienced up to this point, and those experiences have now become both your source of inspiration and – hopefully – income. In order to continue feeling inspired to create you need to continue taking in new experiences. I say this not just for your work, but for your sanity. You can drive yourself crazy starring at an empty canvas or you can go out, see or hear or touch or taste or smell something that moves you, then immediately feel the need to purposefully create once more.
This may read like common sense to some readers, but the up and comers still trying to get their foot in the door will think it’s crazy because they’ve been taught this industry does not allow for breaks. Who has time to watch a television show, let alone a two-hour feature film, when emails are flowing like water at all hours of the day. Add to this the need to maintain social channels, which can require posting up to (if not more than) ten separate feeds on any given day, and we haven’t even addressed the actual work any creative is trying to accomplish. Writing songs or stories takes time, but so does finding inspiration, and far too often we forget that fact.
You are only human, and your brain is only a muscle. In order to perform at your best you have to rest and exercise, but physically and mentally, on a daily basis. It’s both that simple and that hard, but like any other meaningful routine in life it is worth the effort.
So the next time you find yourself banging your head against a wall while trying to create your next masterpiece try taking a step back for an hour, night, or even a couple days. See a movie, go on a hike, or just put on your favorite records. Spend time remembering why you love the thing you do so you can then share that love with the world at large. We’ll be here, ready and waiting to experience what you decide to share.
Anyone trying to make a living with their creativity, from music to marketing, will tell you there are few times in life more frustrating than those moments when you feel as if your inspiration has run dry. You know the feeling. It’s usually something that hits you settle into work on your passion project at night, or perhaps just after you have arrived at the office, and try as you might to get something meaningful accomplished you pretty much just spin your wheels until you feel comfortable excusing yourself in order to spend the rest of the day in a ball of self-loathing introversion on your living room floor, praying to any deity willing to listen that you have enough episode of The West Wing left to avoid you work for one more day. We’ve all been there, or at least those of us who have been working long enough to burn through the first 50 or 100 ideas that we had, and if you feel you’ve yet to reach that point then trust me – It’s on the horizon.
We don’t bring up those uncomfortable times in order to scare. We face the same thing on a fairly regular basis, and we like to refer to it as what author Steven Pressfield calls “Resistance.” That is, a universal force that works against human creativity on a daily basis. We all face it in our own ways, much like we all fight our own battles most the world never knows of. There are a million anecdotes and essays on overcoming Resistance, and we’ve offered several here on this blog. Whether or not it works for you can only be learned through application. Yes, good old fashioned trial and error.
The next time you’re confronted with a creative roadblock in your professional life, take time away from your forced search for inspiration and try losing yourself in an alternate path. Develop an alternative path for yourself, your music, your agency, your label, or that secret side business you always hope to one day attempt. These adventures can sometimes be the source of new real life paths, such is the case with many so-called ‘side projects’ in music. Artists from various genres take a break from their day-to-day career to pursue other creative avenues just like anyone else, and sometimes their efforts lead to new financial avenues that certainly don’t hurt their bottom line.
Developing alternative paths to success for yourself can allow your mind to relax and consider options you might not have been able to adequately access when attempting to force creativity. Let’s explore a few examples to better illustrate this point:
Musicians –
Let’s say you’re the lead guitarist and songwriter for an aspiring rock band. Your first demo went over well with local audiences, and the second was good enough to help you secure a few opening slots on national tours when they roll through your region’s bigger venues. You may have even been able to tour, albeit without the benefits of a bus or guaranteed sell out crowds. Still, you’re making progress and you can feel your dreams of stardom starting to come together.
As you find yourself beginning to thinking about your third release, which would probably be your first full length, you discover you have hit a creative wall. Writing riffs and lyrics was never something you found all the difficult before, but for whatever reason everything you’re coming up with at this current point in time is clearly not good enough to help you get you ahead.
To clear your head and relax your thoughts it might be wise to consider an alternative career in, say, top 40 radio pop. Ask yourself, “What would it take to make it in pop music today?” Think about the songs and artists topping the charts, the themes found in their music, and what it is about tracks like Bieber’s “What Do You Mean” or The Weeknd’s “I Can’t Feel My Face” that keeps people reaching for the repeat button again and again. Some answers will come fast, but others will take time. Think about what these artists do that you do not and ask yourself whether or not their approach to marketing or songwriting could aide your personal efforts. Heck, you may even try penning a song or two. Why not? Trial and error is part of any healthy exploration.
By the time you realize how lost in your pretend career you’ve become enough time should have passed for you to return to your real work with clear eyes and an open mind. Remember the things you learned about yourself and your peers during your brainstorming session and use it to influence your future work.
Industry professionals (label owners, site editors, publicists) –
Maybe you’re a label owner, struggling to keep your costs low while hustling around the clock to not only bring attention to the talent on your roster, but also to sell records. The grind required to keep a small business afloat, let alone build a new music empire, can be devastating on the mind of a creative person. One the one hand, your spirit and soul desire constant exercise and exploration. On the other hand, you need to find what works for your business and stick with it.
On those days when you cannot seem to focus on emails, accounting, marketing, or anything in between, it might be best to allow yourself to unwind with by exploring an alternate professional path. Just like the example for musicians above, you should stay within the realm of what you do (aka – running/building a business), but what it is your fake company does is entirely up to you.
For the sake of simplicity, let’s say your secret wish is to start a subscription box company that offers consumers the chance to receive 1 new album in the mail each month, along with an explanation for the record’s selection. The first thing you need for this business is a name. You decide ‘New Music Monthly’ is a good name and from there set to outlining what would be needed in order to get your business off the ground. You need a web host, a logo, and a cost estimate sheet. You know boxes can be bought in bulk, but you will have to contact the labels/artists you wish to work with in order to know if they would be willing to offer you a discount in order for buying X amount of records. You also need startup cash, which can be earned through launching pre-orders for your first box.
After the basic business details are ironed out, you should then turn your focus to understanding the type of customer who would want this product. Assume that your first few music shipments will be products from your own label, then outline what kind of music fan would be interested in whatever release you might choose. Be specific. Narrow down your fans to a specific age group (teens, young adults, adults 25-35, 35+, senior citizens, etc). Do (or did) these people go to secondary school? Do they attend a lot of concerts?
Once you figure this out you can begin to brainstorming how to accomplish the difficult task of targeting these consumers. Do they frequent Facebook? Twitter? Would placement in a magazine be a wise choice? Depending on which method of outreach you choose, how much will it cost? Can you advertise this way regularly, or do you only have the budget for a single campaign? Again, be specific.
Once you iron out your faux business plan you will not only have a potential new path to financial success, but you will have inadvertently developed marketing tools that could also be used for the real problems facing your actual business. The target market for your faux company will likely be the same, or close to the same, as your actual business. The plans you made to reach those made up customers can be applied in one way or another to the customers you are hoping to reach in with your label. You will have more or less done the work you needed to do in a way that tricked your mind into doing work it might not have wanted to do otherwise.
—
There are a million potential paths through life available to all of us, but far too few ever make much, if any, effort to explore their options. We would never advise you to abandon your dream(s), but we do believe that exploring alternative career paths can lead to success in your current field. What matters most is that you keep an open mind and try as much as you are able without jeopardizing your current professional/financial situation. You can use the examples laid out in the post to get you started, but don’t hesitate to make up your own adventure whenever time allows.
James Shotwell is the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. He is also a professional entertainment critic, covering both film and music, as well as the co-founder of Antique Records. Feel free to tell him you love or hate the article above by connecting with him on Twitter. Bonus points if you introduce yourself by sharing your favorite Simpsons character.
Hello, everyone! Thank you for finding time in your busy life to spend browsing our blog. We have never run two Journalism Tips columns in a single week before, but today that changes with the help of an editorial on the topic of writer’s block. The post you’re about to read was written by James Shotwell, otherwise known as the guy who writes essentially every post on this site. He has Twitter, but he asks that you follow Haulix first.
This blog exists to promote the future of the entertainment industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your entertainment-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
I love my job here at Haulix more than I have ever loved any career, but some days I wake up and know almost immediately that the last thing I want to do that particular day is create content. My job involves a lot more than keeping this blog maintained, but ensuring there is at least one post featuring industry-facing content live every single day is a big part of how I spend my time. Between brainstorming features, doing research for advice columns or interviews, scheduling interviews, conducting interviews, transcribing interviews, drafting the actual content, editing my content, and promoting said content once it’s live I do not have a lot of free time on any particular day to sit around and stare blankly at the word processor on my computer screen. I need to create, whether or not I feel like it, and truth be told that has been the case nearly every day since I decided to start music blogging seven years ago. The only difference is, nowadays I have a slightly better understanding of what it takes to work at that level, and even though I hit walls from time to time I have found methods of getting around those mental roadblocks that can easily be applied to your life as well.
Before we can tackle writer’s block, we must first address the reasons why we write, and more importantly why we must stick to a routine in order to excel. This has been written countless times in the past, but the only reason anyone should be pursuing a career in music writing at this point in time is out of a sheer passion for the art form. The chances of finding a lasting career in this industry are slim to none in most cases, but those who do make it through to find steady employment do so because they use their own thoughts and feelings to forge a connection with the world at large. They speak and write in their own voice, staying true to themselves even when their opinion is not the most popular. They wake every day and do whatever they can to further connect with the outside world through their content creation, which is kind of like signing up to feed a growing monster whose hunger is never able to be full satiated. Ever worse, that monster will move on to another person with content to feed it should your efforts begin to slip. This is why falling into a routine is a must. Writing every day keeps an aspiring writer’s name circling the web. It also ensures that the writer is continuously refining their craft, setting aside time every day to focus on their passion and improving their ability to do it well.
Establishing a writing routine is a relatively simple idea to put into action, but maintaining your dedication to that routine is another story altogether. As I mentioned above while sharing my own personal experience with writer’s block, some days creative people do not feel all that creative. They may be distracted with other concerns, tired, burnt out from having worked too hard for too long without giving their mind time to relax, or something else entirely. The number of reasons for why people feel unable to create are as numerous as the amount of ways people can cure their so-called writer’s block. Every writer experiences these moments of creative burnout, but rarely are these events caused by the same reason. Just as every writer has a voice entirely their own, so must every writer have things that both inspire and distract them from further creativity. For me, trying to do too much is often where I find my creative drive beginning to stall out. If I need to create an article to go live the same day I write it, my mind begins to stress over all the other tasks and conversations that must be set aside in order for that content to be created. Once that panic has passed, I then usually realize I have no immediate concept for my article and panic a second time fearing whether or not whatever I do come up with will be as good as whatever ran the previous day. The fear of not topping what was created in the past is something very familiar to me, and when I let it creep up on me without thinking my ability to move forward is stunted.
The key to overcoming these encounters with writer’s block is as simple and, at the same exact time, incredibly difficult as learning how to step away and distract your mind. Forcing yourself to be creative will only result in mediocre output, and the more you push yourself the more your work will suffer as a result. There are times in life when pushing yourself to work, be it to meet a deadline or simply get something you have no interest in complete, can be a good thing, but when it comes to making an impact on the world and ensuring your voice in writing is recognized almost nothing good can come from making yourself write when you have nothing worthwhile to say. This is not the same as abandoning your routine, as writers should at the very least attempt creativity at a set time/place on a daily basis, but it may cause you to break from your plan on occasion. Remember: One day away will not be the end of your career. I know it may seem that way, especially if something incredible breaks while you are away, but if you are truly putting your all into your work then taking short breaks from time to time will not stall your career progression.
For me, in order to step away from writing to the point I become focused on anything else in the world requires a great effort. I need to get out of my house, which also doubles as my office, and out into the world at large. Sometimes this means going to the grocery store or running errands, but more often than not I find myself headed to the movies (alone). I am not sure I could ever explain why the movies are the place I feel most at peace, but for whatever reason when I enter a cinema my mind is able to unwind and reenergize while actors play pretend on the big screen. Even if the reason I felt unable to write previously was because another element of my life was distracting me, going to the movies has always been a surefire way to cure my creative block. Sometimes that is due to the fact I leave feeling inspired by the creativity of others, but other times it’s because whatever I saw was so dull I feel compelled to create something better out of spite. No one will ever know that is the reason, of course, but in my mind I am constantly waging a way against mediocrity, and every time I manage to draft something I feel confident in I have taken one more step toward eradicating the works I perceive as bad or otherwise underwhelming. Is that necessarily true? Not really. But that does not change the fact that going to the movies allows me the escape I need from reality in order to once again sit down and begin creating content.
I cannot tell you what your escape will be, but I will say that you are probably already aware of the activity or place you need in order to relax your mind long enough for its to refuel its creative juices. Whatever that thing is, I urge you to never take it for granted and never allow anyone to tell you it’s stupid, dumb, or anything of the sort. Each writer’s journey is different, and therefore the things we need in order to continue moving forward are varied as well. What works for me might not work for you, and if your thing involves a lot of physical activity it probably won’t appeal to me. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s not hard for random assholes inhabiting this planet to make you feel weird about your own choices. Don’t let them do that to you. Stay true to yourself and in time you will find the best means to unwind, which will lead you to defeating writer’s block.
It’s not all about finding an escape however, though that is a major part of defeating writer’s block. You also need to be conscious of your personal expectations for your work. I think Malcolm Gladwell said it best when he wrote:
“I deal with writer’s block by lowering my expectations. I think the trouble starts when you sit down to write and imagine that you will achieve something magical and magnificent—and when you don’t, panic sets in. The solution is never to sit down and imagine that you will achieve something magical and magnificent. I write a little bit, almost every day, and if it results in two or three or (on a good day) four good paragraphs, I consider myself a lucky man. Never try to be the hare. All hail the tortoise.”
A lot of people will tell you lowering your expectations is the first step in a slippery slope to embracing mediocrity, but I have to disagree. Without the ability to lower our expectations it would be incredibly easy for us to hate ourselves because of our inability to achieve certain self-imposed goals, regardless of how unrealistic they may be. In order to achieve greatness people must first attempt what seems impossible. If they can pull it off, the bar is set even higher. If not, the bar must be ever-so-slightly, but only so that we do not become discouraged with our ability to do more than we are currently capable of achieving. When we hit that new goal, albeit lower than we initially hoped, we feel a renewed sense of determination for continued growth. At that point we can again try to reach our original goal, and from there we continue to explore just how far our ability will take us. We might fall on our face, sure, but it’s only human to make mistake. It’s not ever trying that’s the true failure.
There are people in this world who will tell you that writer’s block is only results from the fear of being confronted by our lack of abilities, but my experience in this industry has taught me that is rarely the case. Writer’s block is something that occurs because we push ourselves to the breaking point and expect nothing to give. We recognize the internet’s endless need for content and wish so much to fulfill it, even if doing so means sacrificing precious time and relationships. We get it in our heads that if we push ourselves just a bit more then maybe – just maybe – something will change and our lives will never be the same. The truth is that the only way something like that happens is from sustained quality content creation. It’s not about the day to day as much as it is the big picture, and if you want to stand out against the sea of hopeful music writers you will need a history of quality content creation to back up whatever it is you’re doing today. Find a routine and stick with it, but also listen to your body and know when you need to step away. There is nothing wrong with taking a break. The internet will almost certainly still be here tomorrow, and your readers will be waiting. Take time for you so that you’re able to make content for them. It’s more important than you know.
