Hi! Welcome to the 4 CreativeWheels newsletter — your weekly dose of insights on creativity and fuel for your creative journey.

It’s the second week and I’m more enthusiastic than ever. I had several ideas on what to talk about but one idea stood out to me.

Without further ado…

Let’s start the ride!

Main Wheel

“It’s time to work,” you tell yourself.

You bring out every tool you need to get started. Everything is set, but nothing feels right.

You try to move forward, but there is a heavy smoke blurring the view. You flail your arms around, swinging them aggressively to chase the fog away. Yet, when it gradually dissipates, you now see a thousand paths. You’re paralyzed.

That is how I felt when I met creator’s block.

Okay, it might be overdramatic. Still, one thing is certain. We’ve all faced some variations of this experience. It’s a stop in every creative and craftsperson’s journey. You might even be in one right now.

However, do you really have creator’s block?

We often describe creator’s block as a state where you can’t come up with good ideas or keep working on a project. But, are we wrong about the whole experience? Have we been looking at it from a faulty angle?

Is it that you don’t have ideas or you’re uncomfortable having bad ideas?

There are levels to creator’s block. Sometimes it’s connected to bad mental and physical health which is a whole different conversation.

But if you have decent mental and physical health, creator’s block is not a barrier. From my experience, and as many other creatives can attest, creator’s block is a chance to embrace the ugly and be patient, curious, and creative.

At the beginning of a creative session, bad ideas often come out first. Sometimes the bad ideas are really bad, truly trash. You try to brainstorm some more ideas, but you’re dissatisfied. You’re disappointed by the results you’re getting. Hence, you deem the situation as a block.

The very piece you’re reading was part of such sessions. I was generating ideas for my future articles and newsletter issues. However, I “could not” come up with one decent idea.

So, I reset, I took a break. No, I didn’t prepare myself some hot sweet tea. (It wouldn’t hurt to make me some though.) I just sat calm, doing nothing, and came back to work. When I did come back to work, I did not stop even when trash ideas kept creeping in. At that moment, the creator’s block became an open door.

As John Mayer perfectly encapsulated it, "A creative block is not failure to create. It is a failure to accept that you empty a lot of bad ideas before good ideas can come and flow. It's a failure to get fearless."

That’s what many creatives fail to realize. Creator’s block is not a dam to your creativity river. It’s just the time when you should let the dirty water flow. How do you do that?

It’s simple. First, stop and reset. Give your mind space to forget for some minutes “the struggle.” The best ways to reset are taking a walk or sitting quietly. Then get back to “the struggle.” This time, don’t look at it as a struggle, but as an uncertain adventure.

The more you let ideas flow, the clearer the river becomes, and the better you’ll spot the ruby flowing with the current.

In other sessions, take the time to figure out where you’re going with each idea and thought that comes up. Don’t be quick to judge the ideas and don’t stop the flow of work. You’ll reach a point where you have more than enough ideas to explore. Test the ideas until you find a winner.

Sometimes the struggle is not in the river, but a rock beneath the river. The rock pushes up the sand below and makes the water dirty. The rock is a mistake you made that you haven’t noticed.

You’ll have to review your work or ideas, search for the parts that don’t work, and delete them. Yes, delete them, even if you spent hours creating or coming up with them. They’ll keep hindering the whole river’s flow. To regain a clearer current, it’s better to remove them.

And that’s it. It’s that simple, but it doesn’t mean easy. The process will be uncomfortable, but will be worth it.

Hence, the next time you encounter a creator’s block, take it as a door for creative experimentation. You get to reset, zoom out, and empty the bad ideas to eventually get the good ones. Be fearless with the process and in your approach.

Remember, you don’t have a creator’s block. You have an open opportunity to zoom out and get shit before getting the gold.

Inspiring Wheels

Here are two (or more) creative works that you’ll not regret checking out:

• “Rothko versus The Robots: How I learned how to stop worrying about AI killing our creativity” - Jon Cockley | AI has been raising questions about the future, especially for creatives. Here Jon Cockley reassures us of something we often forget. And that thing will be a big differentiator in an AI world.

  https://www.creativeboom.com/features/how-i-learned-how-to-stop-worrying-ai-killing-our-creativity/

• “How Art Became Useless” - Art Chad | Though I disagree with some of his points, this is a great video. It brings up a topic worth exploring and reflecting on.

  https://youtu.be/tfV0a54cUUg?si=lf53cigZkLbYiNH_

• “Bad writers wait too long to get into the good stuff.“ - David Perell | An interesting tweet about how to write better intros.

  https://x.com/david_perell/status/1753080315659051484?s=20

 Want to share this issue of 4 CreativeWheels? Just copy and paste this link: https://4creativewheels.beehiiv.com/p/march-21-2024 😉 😃

Thank you so much for reading! 

As always, feel free to reply to this email & share your thoughts, stories, and any experience related to this topic. I’d love to hear them!  

C ya next Week! 

Embracing Creativity™,

Richard M.

Want to work with me? Contact me here