Olie
Member
Introduction
I've spent a obsessive amount of time researching all of this and thought it was a good idea to compile and share what i've found to help all those who often get writers block.
First off when i say open/creative brain or closed/logical brain i'm not saying logic or emotion is located in just one brain part (or side as the myth goes) but i'm referring to complex systems in the brain. When i refer to dopamine you should know that there are different types but i use a general term to avoid confusion. Let's get into it...
The cause of writers block
There's always something to write about even in the most boring life, so lack of material isn't the cause. You have the motivation to write otherwise you wouldn't want to write - motivation isn't the problem. (Ignoring wacky spiritual beliefs) The only thing left:writers block; an inability to express yourself.
What is expression? It's defined as:
the action of making known one's thoughts or feelings.
It sounds obvious but mull it over for a second and consider with this in mind what's causing the inability to express yourself. You should come to the conclusion that writers block is an emotional problem. Have you ever tried to change your emotions with logic before? It tends to either have no effect or make things worse. What is the emotional problem? Insecurity AKA self doubt.
I will refer to Analytical/logical thought as closed thought and emotional thought as open thought from here on out so you can relate it to the video below if you watch it.
The cycle
It goes something like this: You try to use closed thought to express and create - You analyse something that doesn't exist yet - You become insecure and anxious - repeat until frustrated
The problem is we start the cycle in the wrong place, we have to use our open brain to create then after we have our creation (whether it's one bar or a whole song) focus our closed brain to structure, modify, delete parts we don't like, refine our work, etc.
Get inspired
What does inspiration feel like to you when it strikes? Are you writing from your heart or from your head? Do the words feel like they're flowing from some unknown place when you're high on inspiration or are you consciously crafting every line, word and syllable? What i'm trying to say here is Stop thinking, you need to "feel" the song your about to create.
What is inspiration? It's defined as:The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.
The cure
Remember back to the last time you were really angry, what do you do while your in a rage? Do you hit stuff, pace around, shout? All forms of expression. Think back to when you were last hysterically angry/sad/excited/happy/etc. Your inner dialog shuts off, that's your closed brain saying bye bye, that's similar to the state of mind you need to reach minus the out of control emotion. One interesting thing to note at this point isthe same part of the brain is responsible for emotion and motivation.
So here's the cure:
1. Limit the roll of the closed part of your brain
2. Draw upon an emotion for momentum
3. Start writing
So now the difficult part: How do you calm down the closed part of your brain and/or excite the open part to make the open part more dominant?
How to "consume" the cure
Just a few ideas:
One tool i've learnt to use is meditation: The basic practise that most psychologists will suggest in a healthy lifestyle is mindfulness meditation. The most basic type is centered around feeling the sensations of your breath, if you focus on a sensation in your body for 30ish minutes and let thoughts fade into the background the open (feeling) part of your brain will become more active while the closed (self analytical) becomes less dominate.
You could just ignore the thoughts of self doubt and in the process they will eventually fade (if you don't feed into them - that's why focusing on sensations of breath can help give you a attention point to return to, to prevent that)
The closed brain is analysing your feelings and suppressing them so by forcing expression your no longer using that part of your brain as much. Try dancing manically, freewriting, anything that takes little to no internal thought and can't be done "wrong". If you try to express yourself by making a "structured song" your closed part of the brain will stay active.
One thing to note about creativity is it's been shown in studies to increase with higher dopamine levels. So increasing dopamine should also remove writers block. Some things that increase dopamine: exercise, meditation, interesting new things (music, sights, tastes), etc - interestingly enough these things are all to do with "feelings". Note: drugs (including things like caffeine, nicotine, etc) increase dopamine then cause a drop below the original base line after they wear off, if you become an addict then the base line becomes so low you have to take the drug just to feel normal dopamine levels.
I for one, absolutly hate taking breaks and the idea of waiting for inspiration. Hopefully this post destroys the idea of that being the best way to go about writing. The only thing that method does is waste time waiting for the elements i've talked about above to align.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the video i mentioned earlier:
If you're strapped for time, here's a awesome bandcoach summary of the video:
One final thing to add: there are people who have a fine balance between the open and closed parts of the brain so what they write comes out "perfectly" while others have to write then switch modes to analyse and modify work after the fact. Writers block is the over activity of the closed side and on the flip side if you're completely stuck in the open part what you write will probably come out as something resembling mental throw up following basic language rules (that's basically what free writing is). So the aim should be to achieve a balance that enables you to write.
Here's a guide for a 10 minute meditation session:
I've spent a obsessive amount of time researching all of this and thought it was a good idea to compile and share what i've found to help all those who often get writers block.
First off when i say open/creative brain or closed/logical brain i'm not saying logic or emotion is located in just one brain part (or side as the myth goes) but i'm referring to complex systems in the brain. When i refer to dopamine you should know that there are different types but i use a general term to avoid confusion. Let's get into it...
The cause of writers block
There's always something to write about even in the most boring life, so lack of material isn't the cause. You have the motivation to write otherwise you wouldn't want to write - motivation isn't the problem. (Ignoring wacky spiritual beliefs) The only thing left:writers block; an inability to express yourself.
What is expression? It's defined as:
the action of making known one's thoughts or feelings.
It sounds obvious but mull it over for a second and consider with this in mind what's causing the inability to express yourself. You should come to the conclusion that writers block is an emotional problem. Have you ever tried to change your emotions with logic before? It tends to either have no effect or make things worse. What is the emotional problem? Insecurity AKA self doubt.
I will refer to Analytical/logical thought as closed thought and emotional thought as open thought from here on out so you can relate it to the video below if you watch it.
The cycle
It goes something like this: You try to use closed thought to express and create - You analyse something that doesn't exist yet - You become insecure and anxious - repeat until frustrated
The problem is we start the cycle in the wrong place, we have to use our open brain to create then after we have our creation (whether it's one bar or a whole song) focus our closed brain to structure, modify, delete parts we don't like, refine our work, etc.
Get inspired
What does inspiration feel like to you when it strikes? Are you writing from your heart or from your head? Do the words feel like they're flowing from some unknown place when you're high on inspiration or are you consciously crafting every line, word and syllable? What i'm trying to say here is Stop thinking, you need to "feel" the song your about to create.
What is inspiration? It's defined as:The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.
The cure
Remember back to the last time you were really angry, what do you do while your in a rage? Do you hit stuff, pace around, shout? All forms of expression. Think back to when you were last hysterically angry/sad/excited/happy/etc. Your inner dialog shuts off, that's your closed brain saying bye bye, that's similar to the state of mind you need to reach minus the out of control emotion. One interesting thing to note at this point isthe same part of the brain is responsible for emotion and motivation.
So here's the cure:
1. Limit the roll of the closed part of your brain
2. Draw upon an emotion for momentum
3. Start writing
So now the difficult part: How do you calm down the closed part of your brain and/or excite the open part to make the open part more dominant?
How to "consume" the cure
Just a few ideas:
One tool i've learnt to use is meditation: The basic practise that most psychologists will suggest in a healthy lifestyle is mindfulness meditation. The most basic type is centered around feeling the sensations of your breath, if you focus on a sensation in your body for 30ish minutes and let thoughts fade into the background the open (feeling) part of your brain will become more active while the closed (self analytical) becomes less dominate.
You could just ignore the thoughts of self doubt and in the process they will eventually fade (if you don't feed into them - that's why focusing on sensations of breath can help give you a attention point to return to, to prevent that)
The closed brain is analysing your feelings and suppressing them so by forcing expression your no longer using that part of your brain as much. Try dancing manically, freewriting, anything that takes little to no internal thought and can't be done "wrong". If you try to express yourself by making a "structured song" your closed part of the brain will stay active.
One thing to note about creativity is it's been shown in studies to increase with higher dopamine levels. So increasing dopamine should also remove writers block. Some things that increase dopamine: exercise, meditation, interesting new things (music, sights, tastes), etc - interestingly enough these things are all to do with "feelings". Note: drugs (including things like caffeine, nicotine, etc) increase dopamine then cause a drop below the original base line after they wear off, if you become an addict then the base line becomes so low you have to take the drug just to feel normal dopamine levels.
I for one, absolutly hate taking breaks and the idea of waiting for inspiration. Hopefully this post destroys the idea of that being the best way to go about writing. The only thing that method does is waste time waiting for the elements i've talked about above to align.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the video i mentioned earlier:
If you're strapped for time, here's a awesome bandcoach summary of the video:
One final thing to add: there are people who have a fine balance between the open and closed parts of the brain so what they write comes out "perfectly" while others have to write then switch modes to analyse and modify work after the fact. Writers block is the over activity of the closed side and on the flip side if you're completely stuck in the open part what you write will probably come out as something resembling mental throw up following basic language rules (that's basically what free writing is). So the aim should be to achieve a balance that enables you to write.
Here's a guide for a 10 minute meditation session:
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