Stuck in the Middle with Me
When I was a kid, The Phantom Tollbooth was one of my favorite books. The hero of our story, Milo, finds a mysterious tollbooth in his room (I’d say any tollbooth in my room would be mysterious) and uses it to go on an adventure to the Lands Beyond. When he first arrives, he stops paying attention to where he’s going and ends up in the Doldrums. The Doldrums is basically a place where no one thinks and everyone is sleepy.
Internets, here’s the deal:
I am in the Creative Doldrums. I can’t think. And I’m very sleepy.
Before I get on a roll about this, let me just preface by saying: I love my job. I can’t believe I get to do what I do. If my 9th grade self could see me now, I know she’d be FLIPPING OUT. She’d say: “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you work for Student Life! Do you know Travis?” And then I’d tell my 9th grade self that I DO, in fact, know Travis and that sometimes we even grill hot dogs at his house and she would promptly faint from SHEER DELIGHT.
Anyway, I really like my job and enjoy it, for the most part. I am actually using my degree (which was THEATER, so…that’s incredible) and could my parents be more proud of this fact? No, they could not. Lately, however, I’ve noticed a slight change taking place in my daily workload. There’s a script I should be writing and there’s also some mundane administrative duty I need to perform. Normally, I would slough off the admin task, as admin tasks are boring and I would rather die. But not lately. Lately, the admin task seems more appealing. The looming script deadline hangs ever over my head, but boy, have I made some spreadsheets! You simply would not believe the spreadsheets.
I know what this means for me. It means I’m stuck. I stare at assignments and NOTHING comes to my mind. I get up, walk around the building, see the baby, get some tea, and I’m stuck. The fingers fly over the keyboard for the spreadsheets, but not for the scripts.
I pretty much know why I’m stuck. Here are a couple of reasons:
There’s a baby. She’s cute and cuddly, but also a sleep sucker.
I have no creative outlet outside of work.
It’s really that last one. Even my free time is mostly spent writing freelance, so still work. It’s very fun work and I enjoy it, but my brain is at maximum capacity.
So, I’ve got to find a cure. I mean, this is my job. My job is 10% spreadsheets, and people will get suspicious if all these spreadsheets start popping up everywhere.
I trolled the internets for some solutions. It seems many people have this problem. Art-Slam says I need to change the scenery and flip the script. John Cleese says I need to go on auto-pilot for awhile and see where my whims take me. E-How (yes, I have stooped to E-How) tells me to write down my goals, do something different, and not be afraid of support.
In The Phantom Tollbooth, Milo is rescued from the Doldrums by a dog with a ginormo clock embedded into his side named Tock. So I’ve got to figure out what my Tock is. Any suggestions on getting out of these old, sleepy Doldrums?
I’m all ears, internets.
this is exactly why i started painting. go buy a few canvases and get to work. don’t be afraid to suck (but also, don’t be afraid to think what you did was pretty darn good).
Hey! I am so happy one of my posts gave you some ideas for shaking up getting out of a rut. Even though you can not tell by my recent posting, I have been in a slight rut myself. I found a new fun thing to do called Zentangle.
If you Google it, you will find an entire site devoted to it. It is basically fancy doodling. You don’t need to know how to draw and it has actually given me some ideas just sitting around making interesting pictures.
Take care.
Andy and I were talking about this exact same thing recently and he mentioned to try a new medium. Photography, painting/drawing, learn the guitar or piano, heck even cooking… just try something new and dive into it. It helped him a while ago, and it seems to help me from time to time. You’re one of the most creative people I know, you’ll come out of it.
I think there’s something to be said for Stephen King’s advice to write every day, even if you can’t think of anything “good” or don’t really want to. I’ve found that to be true when I’m writing.
If I make myself write, then somehow, in a shorter amount of time than I’d think, I realize that my inner-monologues get a little more creative…a little more unique with the word choice…I start to think in a style that I’m aiming to write in.
It sounds really hokey, and a little embarrassing to let you know about my inner [monologue] turmoil, but…it does work for me! It’s actually something I’m preparing a blog about
(Unfortunately, it doesn’t make me a better speller, as I had to look up “monologue” on m-w.com. Fail.)
Make yourself create in a medium other than your primary one (writing).
Buy a canvas and some paint and some brushes and paint a picture of the Holls. Take a piece of old furniture and make it awesome. Borrow a camera, go downtown, and take lots of pictures. Plant flowers in your yard. Draw some cartoons. Spend time in a cool toy store. (Homewood Toy and Hobby shop is killer.) Take a sketch pad to Oak Mountain or Southside and draw people or trees. Or both. Watch well-written movies. Re-decorate a room in a really funky style.
You don’t become un-creative.
Creativity is like a muscle. It has to be exercised or it atrophies.
Oh, and one more: use words like “atrophies.”
Try another medium. Since you do so much creative writing, try something that has nothing to do with stories or writing. I’ve found that dabbling in a couple different creative outlets/styles has always helped me. I’d suggest painting, photography, sketching/drawing, decorating, sewing…something visual.
But that’s just what helps me. I hope it might help you too! Doldrums are no fun.
Funny you should mention this.
http://wordslinger0044.blogspot.com/2009/07/creative-doldrums-pt-1-but-actually-999.html
there’s a part 2 coming, thanks to a plane ride this morning. You can look for it tomorrow.
The not-so-crazy part is that all this was before I read your post, which has been sitting on my “read it later.”
And I respectfully disagree with finding another medium. Respectfully.