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The question

What do you do when you feel creatively stuck?

Originally asked

The Creative Independent, to working artists, its interview series

A recurring Creative Independent question whose wording distinguishes a lasting block from a temporary impasse.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

BS
Bill Sellanga

Musician, producer and DJ, performing as Blinky Bill

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
I have a DJ side that I’ve developed, and so when creative blocks hit me I tend to spin a lot more than usual. Also, just trying my hand in other fields. I’m looking at sewing classes the next time I have a creative block.

Brandon Stosuy, The Creative Independent, 3 August 2017 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 63 →
Brandon Breaux American artist
There’s a good amount of momentum between projects. I worked in design for 10 years, so I don’t have time for writer’s block. I don’t have time for creative blocks. That’s my perspective on everything. When you’re working with a client and it’s not necessarily for yourself and it’s about a timeline, it’s about deadlines, and it’s a very structured process and you’ve followed that—especially if you’ve been let go at certain jobs because you didn’t follow that—you just kind of get over yourself. But, I dunno. And that’s maybe not the greatest thing to say, but I think that’s a responsibility to have, man. Just making sure that you’re not out of it all the time. Making sure that you can actually deliver.
Recorded Brandon Stosuy, The Creative Independent interview source ↗
Rickie Lee Jones Singer and songwriter
I just wait. I accept that I might not write anymore. I accept that life changes and that maybe it’s not the end of the world even if it feels like it. That was a thing going on about 15 years ago with me. I don’t really feel that way anymore, but when it was happening it was hard. It feels like it might never come again, and then you just accept it.
Recorded T. Cole Rachel, The Creative Independent interview source ↗
William Villalongo American visual artist
I don’t. The process of trying to get to something is part of it. Sometimes I don’t have much of an idea initially. For me, studio time is also about reading and looking at things. I might spend a couple weeks just reading something or looking through images or doing image searches or going to museums and thinking in front of great paintings. And then at some point I start to get back to my own ideas and how they can form into something that has meaning for me.
Recorded Brandon Stosuy, The Creative Independent interview source ↗
Miho Hatori Japanese singer and musician
I always want to feel fresh when I do something. If I don’t have that excited feeling, it’s impossible to move people, and that’s the most important thing for me.
Recorded Brandon Stosuy, The Creative Independent interview source ↗

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