100% of writers say writer's block is normal
How to handle creative stagnation.
You’re reading Soft Hobbies, a weekly newsletter for writers, artists, and creatives. I’m Auzin, a Seattle-based writer in the fiction, poetry, and tech writing spheres. To see more of my work, visit my author website or check out my socials.
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Hi softies,
Today we’re chatting about creative stagnation. Wintering. Lying fallow. Writers’ block. Feeling stuck. Whatever term you use, the state remains the same: you’re not creating. Maybe you know the reason(s) why, or maybe you’re not sure why you can’t seem to make anything right now. Either way, it sucks to feel like this.
Thankfully, you have company. Every single creative person has felt this way before and will feel it again — it’s not something you can permanently defeat. Can you think of anyone who is perfectly creative and jumps into a flow state every day, never feels blocked, and never has life circumstances that stop them from sitting down at their desk?
Periods of frozen creativity are normal. It might help to remember this is a phase of your life, and like an emotion, it’s transient. Being blocked isn’t a permanent state of existence unless you decide it is. If you can’t truly welcome this phase, you can learn how to handle it in ways that feel best to you. As long as you have the desire to create again, you can eventually return to drink from the well. Art will always be there for you to come back to. You are still an artist and a creative person; a fallow period passes in its own time.
What the fallow period looks like for me
I almost never struggle with a lack of ideas. My Notes app, Google docs, and text threads with friends are overflowing with inspiration and half-formed projects. I get inspired by books, movies, videogames, and visual art all the time.
What I do struggle with is a lack of motivation, feeling like an inferior writer, and a perceived lack of time.1 My writer’s block looks like overproductivity in other areas of my life, irritability from stress, and burnout-related exhaustion. I distract myself with new hobbies and games. I start reading less or reading slower because well-written books make me hate myself and feel like I’ve wasted my life. I constantly feel overtaxed and run ragged, and if I do manage to write, it’s so exhausting that I have to take a nap afterwards.
When I’m stagnating, I don’t write much, but I’m always thinking about writing, wishing I was doing it or feeling guilty because I’m not. I curse the machine that grinds the creativity out of me, question if I’m a writer at all, and wonder if it’s too late to become a good one. I don’t look at my old work or touch my new projects. Clearly, I don’t show up as my best self.
Seasonality and creation
I didn’t write anything for Soft Hobbies in the month of November (incidentally, my least favorite month). My wintering periods seem to line up with the changing of the seasons — maybe I should call it “autumning?” When the days start rapidly shortening, with the already-scarce Seattle daylight growing even scarcer, I experience a synchronous drop in energy levels.
To me, spring and summer have the strongest creative energy. In fall and winter, my mood shifts from outward expansion towards deeper introspection. This is normal and natural. We are still animals, and we need more sleep when it’s dark out. We’re allowed to stay inside and rely on our reserves. Humans are seasonal like any other creature on Earth, and it’s our right to experience each of those seasons to its full extent.
Emerging from the cocoon
It’s only in the past couple weeks that I’ve started to crawl out of my writer’s block. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I’m pulling myself towards it. Writing has started to feel exciting and scary again, instead of just scary. I’ll write a newsletter post in one day (like I did today!) and think “damn, why can’t I do this every day?” But I know the reason why. Our bodies and minds are constantly in flux, able to give and receive different amounts at different times.
If you are in a fallow period right now, I empathize with you and I hope this post can help. It’s okay to struggle with feelings of being stuck and what it means for you and your artistic practice. I want to offer you suggestions and ideas for how to get through this time with less suffering.
Ways to deal with creative stagnation
Increase your input. If you’re not producing a lot right now, try consuming a little more. This does not mean buying stuff! Read your favorite books and watch your favorite movies. Let meaningful images, language, and sound wash over you. A human made this, and you are also a human who makes things. You share something with all your favorite artists because of that. Take comfort in that connection.
Promote your old work. If you feel okay with looking at your older art/writing right now, try sharing a piece with a friend who hasn’t seen it yet2, or posting it on social media (if you use it). Alternatively, if you have some productive energy, submit your stuff to a few publications, fellowships, or contests. By the time you hear back, you might be ready to get back in the saddle. Keeping in touch with your past creations and accomplishments can help with self-esteem on those days where you’re feeling down on your work.
Take a break from socials. I quit Instagram during my most recent fallow period, and it felt great. I had so much extra time and brain space! Highly recommend. If you have a tendency to compare yourself to other creatives, try deleting some apps. I promise it’ll help.
Finish a project in another medium. This helps with the guilt of not creating. Make sure the project is small, simple, and fun to do. If you’re a writer, try sculpting with clay. If you’re a painter, write a handful of haikus. My other creative hobbies include: watercolors, air-dry clay, coloring books, Lego, painting tabletop miniatures, and sewing. Don’t get sucked into the trap of making a bunch of other stuff and stressing out over that to distract yourself from what you really want to be doing…I’ve done that way too many times.
Reconnect with your body. If you live in a space where it’s safe to do so, this is literally always a good idea. My favorite ways to reconnect with my body are yoga, drinking hot tea, and dancing.
Remember this will pass. Your creative block and your emotions are like the weather. They stay, they go, they change. They’re never permanent. You don’t have control over when and how they arrive, but you do control your reactions to them. Your creativity and inspiration hasn’t abandoned you; it’s just lying dormant, waiting for the right time to sprout again.
I hope this helped, and please share any advice for creatives who are feeling stuck and sad. Brighter days are coming, I promise!
Additional resources
For more on this topic and some inspiration, check out these resources from other writers and artists (and one more from me, hehe):
By the way, I’m doing the mini 1000 words challenge with Jami Attenberg on January 3-7, 2025. The 1000 words of summer challenge has been a game-changer for me in the past, and I’ve already blocked off time on my calendar for this one. If you want to write a whole bunch, you should join! Have a super safe and very fun start to the new year <3
Softly yours,
Auzin
I say a “perceived” lack of time because sometimes I really do have too much going on in a day to have energy left for writing, but most days I’ve just failed to carve out time for it, or am unwilling to give up other things for writing.
I tried this recently and it gave me a HUGE motivational boost to keep writing. Don’t underestimate the power of a super-supportive beta reader!
I tend to be less creative when the days shorten, too. I try to use that as an opportunity to rest and fill my cup, but it’s certainly frustrating sometimes, like you described. I’m hoping the new year will energize me a bit :)