3 Ways to Get Out of a Creative Rut

Let's talk about coping with creative ruts. I'm Rachel Havocost. I'm a writer and mental health advocate. And I often get into really big creative ruts when I feel uninspired, unmotivated, or just like I don't really even know what it is that I want to create. So these are some things that I do when I'm in a creative rut. One of my favorite things is the Artist's way. If you haven't heard of it, the Artist's Way is a book paired with a workbook called the Artist's Workbook by Julia Cameron. And it's a beautiful series of different activities that you can do to help you get out of a creative rut or get creatively inspired by.

There's two parts of that that are my favorite. So if you're not able to get the book, you can try these two things. One is morning pages. So every morning waking up, first thing you do. You can have your coffee, of course. I always do that too. And you just free write for three pages, non stop. So even if that's just writing the word, I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to say. The idea is to not stop because we're trying to get our brains out of the filtration and trying to get ourselves to just be able to produce something without any attachment to what it is, even if it's just the same word over and over.

And the second thing in that workbook is an artist's walk. And so this is something I really love to do myself. I'll put on some music, I'll pack a bag with like a book, a notebook, maybe a snack, and I just walk. I walk aimlessly. I don't have a plan. I give myself maybe an hour, or if I have all afternoon, I'll go all afternoon. And I just walk and I allow myself to just sort of find inspiration or be led wherever I want to. And oftentimes this is a really lovely way for us to get out of our heads of like, what do I need to create?

And just let the world around us inspire. Inspire us. The second thing I really like to do is to create for creation's sake and not for the purpose of what we actually want to create. So what does this mean? This means doing things that are not in line with whatever it is that we're hoping to ultimately create. So if you're a painter doing something that is not painting but still creative, if you're a singer doing something that is creative but not singing and so finding a way to stretch our creative muscles without an attachment to this is something that I actually want to do really well in.

My third tip is to have self compassion. I think one of the best things I had a friend ever tell me when I first started writing was even if you're just staring at a blank page, you're still writing. It's part of the process. So reminding ourselves that even if we're in a creative rut or block it doesn't mean we will be forever and it's part of the experience of being a creative person is that we're sometimes going to be unmotivated. So making sure that we have a lot of self compassion for ourselves and don't create stories that mean we're not creative anymore or we've lost our touch and trusting that that is still actually part of being a creative human being.

I hope that was helpful and I will see you next time.