tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499291764010681491.post3335731880956571270..comments2023-05-06T01:54:56.875-07:00Comments on McRay Studios: "How to Get Unstuck. Dealing with Creative Blocks"McRay Studioshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13717011253463691734noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499291764010681491.post-17879702368014148022009-06-03T01:02:40.569-07:002009-06-03T01:02:40.569-07:00ohh...you're so insightful!! But honestly do ...ohh...you're so insightful!! But honestly do do make some great points.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03216186970076452908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499291764010681491.post-12565169741874398462009-04-08T11:47:00.000-07:002009-04-08T11:47:00.000-07:00I love this! I think you were talking directly to ...I love this! I think you were talking directly to me. Hahahha. I'm going to print this list and keep it in my wallet so I can see it everyday as a reminder. Such great advice!<BR/><BR/>I like that Darrell also reiterated something you say often: produce crap just to be producing something, although you don't quite say it in those words. :-)<BR/><BR/><BR/>Jenni.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499291764010681491.post-49220049131363576032009-04-03T16:03:00.000-07:002009-04-03T16:03:00.000-07:00If anything guarantees a creative block for me it’...If anything guarantees a creative block for me it’s working on a project I don’t want to work on. The 9 to 5 gives me enough drudgery that I really don’t want to deal with any when it comes to art. August Wilson had the same take on creative blocks that you do: he didn’t believe in them. Had no sympathy for people who let it stop them. His solution was simple: you work. You keep working. You put anything on the page even if it’s crap, but you can’t let stuff stay compacted up there (in your brain), giving you a complex. ‘Cause supposedly the scariest thing to a writer is the blank page. The blank canvas might be the scariest thing to a painter. <BR/><BR/> Here’s a Catch-22, though: the reason it’s scary is you’re afraid you’re going to produce crap. So if you take August’s tack and produce crap just to be producing something, won’t that make you more afraid of the blank slate? Won’t that make you more afraid of producing? ‘Cause you’ll be realizing your greatest fear. Well, it might make you more afraid. But there’s a good Catch-22 about crap, too: crap can be edited. Throw some paint on the canvas and at least see what doesn’t work. And if you don’t want to waste a stretched canvas, throw some paint on some cheap paper. Just keep moving. If you don’t stumble into something good, you might be able to work your way into what is good by process of elimination. It’s not very romantic, but it works. <BR/><BR/> I’m working the process now, reworking some awful, cardboard, clichéd characters I forced out for a sci-fi series a while ago. I forced them out to keep from getting blocked. I wrote every crappy idea down, convinced myself I could polish them up later, and in the meantime, I kept the flow going. And in the flow, I ended up creating other meatier characters for the series. And the cardboard kids? Now that I’m revamping them, they’re turning into people/characters that actually interest me. I’m actually excited about figuring out what makes them tick. Now if I could only sell this crap... Uh, I meant stuff.Darrellnoreply@blogger.com