6 ways to boost your imagination and break the creative deadlock

In order to describe the state of “non-creation”, in English there is the term creative block, and in Russian there is a whole set of metaphors: creative deadlock, creative crisis, creative stagnation, creative block, creative stupor. Everyone puts something of their own into these concepts. But such states can be conditionally divided into two groups: lack of creativity and lack of ideas, words or skills.

In the first case, as a rule, the situation is called the Phenomenon of Creative Crisis: the monograph is a crisis or a block - a person loses or does not acquire the ability to create at all, experiences a painful state of inner emptiness and dumbness, which can last for weeks and years.

Virginia Wolfe, Franz Kafka, Sylvia Plath - they all experienced a creative crisis and described it as a withering, oppressive state of emptiness and hopelessness. Leo Tolstoy often could not bring himself to sit down at the pen and in his own diary scolded Leo Tolstoy. Diary of 1855 myself for laziness. And Jack London's writers' block even forced him to buy an idea for a novel. This is how Ian Martel, Booker Prize winner and author of Life of Pi, describes this condition:

“The creative block will seem like a ridiculous trifle only to those sluggish souls who have never tried to create something. This is not just a fruitless attempt, a rejected job, but you are all when a little god dies in you, a certain part of you that seemed immortal."

The reason for this condition can be fatigue, stress, criticism of others, increased demands on yourself, and even mental illness. To get out of a crisis, sometimes you need to thoroughly understand the reasons, take a long pause, or even seek help from a psychotherapist.

But there is another kind of creative impasse: when the work stalled, there are not enough ideas, the right words and inspiration, it is not possible to collect thoughts. When the writer can't figure out how to end a chapter, and the designer can't fit all the necessary elements into the logo. It is quite possible to cope with such a state on your own. Here's what might help.

1. Metaphorical cards

Metaphorical associative cards are primarily a tool for psychologists. These are small cards with illustrations or photographs. As a rule, they depict people and their interactions, landscapes, objects, abstraction. They are needed in order to get the client to talk, remove barriers, help formulate a request, look into the subconscious and finally guide a person to solve his problem.

The first deck of metaphorical associative cards was created in 1975 by the artist and art critic Eli Raman. Almost 10 years later, psychotherapist Moritz Egetmeyer decided to use his deck called Oh (an English interjection expressing surprise) in his work with patients.

Metaphorical maps are not only useful for psychologists and their clients. When a person looks at these pictures, a chain of associations and images arises in his thoughts. Sometimes they lead to the past, to deep feelings, and sometimes they whip up imagination, give birth to pictures, ideas and plots. The main thing is to choose illustrations or photographs that evoke emotions and make the imagination fly. You can consider the cards one by one or in combination and capture the images that arise in the head. You can collect an inspiring selection of cards - like a mood board.

Most metaphorical decks range from 1,000 to 4,000 rubles. But as a stimulator of imagination, you can use any interesting and unusual illustrations. You can find them on Pinterest. For example: here are some exciting works,,.

Even famous creative personalities use metaphorical cards in their work. For example, the writer Philip Pullman. If the plot reaches a dead end, he takes out a deck of "Miriorama" - this is a cross between associative cards and a game. In a set of 24 cards with fragments of a landscape. You can place them in any order (the edges of the images will coincide in any case) and each time you get a new picture and a new image, idea or scene.

2. Storytelling games

Storytelling is storytelling, storytelling. There are many games in which you have to invent and tell stories, one at a time or in a group. Cards ("", ""), cubes (), figures, playing fields and chips ("") help in this. Players are given conditions (locations, characters, tools, and items), sometimes a plot and ending, and they must compose a story or a fairy tale. In some games, each participant tells a story, in others, everyone composes together.

It can be fun entertainment, a good way to while away the evening, or keep your child entertained. But besides this, in the process we liberate ourselves, stop being afraid that we will invent some kind of nonsense (after all, this is just a game!), And allow even the most stupid or crazy, at first glance, ideas to break free. And if a really worthwhile story is born with the help of such light-hearted, carefree creativity, you can use it in books, drawings, games and scripts - but you never know where else.

3. Creativity with a timer

Each of us is periodically forced to hear the voice of the so-called inner critic - an evil entity that loves to curse and devalue ourselves and what we do. This character arises as a set of negative attitudes received from parents, teachers, sworn friends and other people who are important to us. Very often it is his harmful voice that interferes with the imagination and does not allow us to sit down at the pen, brush or keyboard. One way to turn it down is to work for the time being.

If the margin of time is limited, there is no time to turn on the perfectionist and talk about the imperfections of your own creativity. You just have to do it - albeit not perfect.

You can create a deadline yourself - for example, using a timer. This is where the well-known Pomodoro method comes in handy - a technique for managing time and fighting procrastination. According to the rules, you need to alternate 25 minutes of intensive work with five minutes of rest. There is simply no time left for doubts, fears and nagging.

For a "race" over longer distances, you can take part in contests or marathons. Most of all, writers and artists love this activity: a story in a week,. During the international writing marathon NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), you need to write 50,000 words in 30 days - a draft of a full-fledged book. To cope with such a task, you have to give up self-criticism and selflessly write for several hours a day. In addition, marathon runners turn on the excitement and spirit of competition - they want to get to the finish line and keep up with other participants. In such extreme conditions, the creative stupor should recede, and the imagination should work in full force.

4. Paper contamination

Freewriting (English freewriting - free writing) is a technique that helps to break down internal barriers, cope with the fear of a blank slate, come up with an interesting idea and get out of the creative stupor. It is assumed that you need to write whatever comes to mind, without setting global goals and without looking back at your inner critic and spelling rules. Just move a pen over paper, recording the thoughts that float before the inner eye, even if they seem stupid and not worthy of attention.

Freewriting is a kind of meditation on paper, which also helps the imagination to work.

The term "freewriting" was first used by Telling Writing by Ken Macrorie professor of philology Kenneth Macrorie. In the 70s, he proposed using this technique to develop students' writing skills. In Russia, freewriting has become popular thanks to the books by Julia Cameron ("", "") and Mark Levy (""). Julia Cameron uses the term "morning pages" and suggests that every morning, barely waking up, write by hand three pages of text. And Mark Levy has developed five rules for freewriting:

Don't overdo it.
Write quickly and continuously.
Work on tight timelines.
Write the way you think.
Develop your thought.
Ask yourself questions.

The fundamental difference between these two methods is that Mark Levy suggests using a timer and asking yourself leading questions that help develop thought.

If pen and paper are not enough for you, you can use special programs and services. is a timer with pop-up question tips so that you have exactly what to write about. allows you to set the number of words that you are going to write, and if you hesitate, the text input box will turn red and urge you to squeak. The service is paid, it costs $ 20, but the main functions are available in the free version.

For those who like to draw more, there are art notebooks and marathons that offer you to complete different speed tasks, help you relax and tune in to creativity. One of these "races" - # 30impossiblethings - was previously hosted on Instagram by artist Yulia Zmeeva. Then, based on the marathon, she released it. Among the proposed tasks are, for example, the following: to draw a self-portrait using only straight lines, to depict as many faces as possible in 5 minutes, to create a comic strip about your life. The main condition is to draw quickly (there is a time limit for almost all types of activity), have fun and not try to criticize yourself.

Alex Cornell, author of "", suggests drawing blindly. Put any object in front of you and depict it without lowering your gaze on the paper. “The genius of this exercise is that you can't criticize yourself for drawing blindly,” writes Cornell. - Being limited in time, you willy-nilly make fast, decisive movements, and the inability to see the lines at the moment of appearance frees you from their subsequent criticism and rework. All blind drawings look like bad sketches. With them I begin to overcome the creative crisis”.

5. Looking from a different angle

If you can't draw, write. If you can't write, sit down at the potter's wheel. For those who are stuck in a creative impasse, changing activities will help you look at the problem in a new way, find interesting solutions, or just have a good time.

At the age of 55, Pablo Picasso almost stopped painting and could not bring himself to even look at his paintings. Then he began to write poetry and got so carried away that he fired more than 300 poems by A. Mikael. "Poetry of Picasso". This helped him to throw out his feelings and return to painting.

And do not forget that ideas and inspiration can be drawn from the most unexpected sources. The idea of creating the novel "It" by Stephen King was inspired by 10 Things You Might Not Know About Stephen King’s It from the Norwegian children's fairy tale "The Count and the Evil Troll". The author wanted to write a story about a troll under a bridge - and as a result, a horror story about Pennywise, a monster that takes on any guises, was born.

6. Day of Silence

In The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron suggests giving up reading for a week. Arrange for yourself a kind of informational detox, limit the incoming flow of information.

If we keep an eye on the flow we let in and limit it to a minimum, we will be rewarded for this exercise surprisingly soon. The reward will be the return stream that will pour out of us.

Julia Cameron "The Artist's Way"

It's not just about books or newspapers. Basically, our "information channels" pollute posts in social networks, news, gossip. If you block this flow for at least a day (or better, for a few days), you will have to return to activities that leave thoughts free and ultimately help the imagination to roam: walks, household chores, meditation, handicrafts, physical work and sports.