Recess: A First Note on Getting Unstuck

One of the hardest things about being creative is staying creative.

Sometimes the universe is in sync, and ideas pour out of you like a fountain. There isn’t enough time in the day. Then the blocks arrive. In my experience they almost always come from my own barriers, not from a lack of ideas. I have been in the creative field for many years, and I still run into them. Even the most successful artists in the world do too.

I recently watched 10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki, which follows the making of Ponyo from the first sketches through to the finished film. Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli and the director of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, wrestles with blocks and hard creative choices in plain view. If you are in a rut, it is an inspiring story. It is also a reminder that his solutions will not automatically be yours. Each person has to find their own way back. Watching something like this, though, we often pick up a technique or two we can try.

Over the last twenty years, the most reliable method I have found is simple: do something else instead of staring at a blank page. Hiking, photography, and reading are the ones I return to most.

It was only a week ago that I realized I hadn’t put up a YouTube video in a long time. I sat down to figure out what to make and there was nothing there. Everything already felt done. So I turned off the computer and the phone and went for a hike. I walked up to a cliff that looks out over the mountains and sat with my journal. In the fresh air, with enough quiet to hear myself think, the ideas started landing on the page. By the time I got home I had several new video ideas.

One of the reasons I turned off the computer and went for that hike comes from a book I’ve been returning to for the last few years: Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. It has been around for ages. Another artist suggested it, and it is the book I keep handing to people who are stuck. The practice that matters most in it is Morning Pages: three pages of longhand writing, first thing in the morning. I am still not consistent. When I am, the creativity opens up. When I skip it, things fall off sharply. That journal is only one part of finding the method that works for you. Another part is just as important: feed the parts of your life that have nothing to do with the assignment in front of you. The hike was that second part in action.

That is why I am starting this section of the site. Conventional business advice would probably say not to put anything this personal on a professional website. That is exactly why I am doing it. Made-up rules — “this is the one correct way” — are often what kill creativity. I feel that tension when I post YouTube videos that teach a method. I never want to sound like my way is the only way. Every problem is different, whether you are doing VFX, working on a film, or painting. I have lost count of the times I had to do something the “wrong” way to finish on time and on budget. Don’t get me wrong: knowing the "right" method can matter. So does leaving yourself enough room to be creative.

This is the first post in Recess. Recess is exactly that — a time to step away, explore other interests, and find a little inspiration again. My hope is that people will share what inspires them and what actually gets them unstuck. I am on the same journey you are, and I am always interested in learning more. Leave a comment if you have something to add. If there is enough interest, I will add a section to the forum where everyone can share ideas.

By Brian Morse

The documentary follows the making of Ponyo, so I’ve linked that film too.

Mentioned in this post:
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki (YouTube)
Ponyo