What do you do when you feel creatively blocked or stuck?

Originally asked

The Creative Independent, to working artists, its interview series

A recurring Creative Independent question whose wording distinguishes a lasting block from a temporary impasse.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded Simone Giertz said elsewhere, not written here
Oh, there’s so many. Usually it’s when I’m overwhelmed, because I get defensive and I just want to like hide under my couch. I’m working on a project now that I’ve been stuck [with] on a problem for four years and I’m finally [in] “fuck it, let’s just get it done” mode. Which is really nice, but there’s always blocks. I mean, I’ve had a block with the foldable coat hanger for years, and I think we finally have solved it. It’s cool how it ebbs and flows and you’ll discover a new way to approach it that solves [a] problem–and then maybe [that] causes new problems. There’s nothing consistent about it.

Brandon Stosuy, The Creative Independent, 13 March 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 66 →
Heather Benjamin Artist and illustrator
I do get creative blocks. When I get into zones where I start second-guessing my subject matter. When I’m on the end of the spectrum where I’m like, “Oh my god, this is so repetitive and I’m sick of this lady’s face.” At times I get so frustrated with myself and with her for that reason. The best thing for me to do at those times is not to rebel against the subject matter. When I’m being too hard on myself, I need to accept that there’s more I have to say, visually, about the things I’ve been working through for a long time.
Recorded Brandon Stosuy, The Creative Independent, 16 March 2021 source ↗
Brian Jungen Canadian artist
You can move on, or if something gets overworked and you can put it down, cover it up, or something, and then come back to it and take it back to a place where you were still excited about it. I’m excited about having that opportunity again. I’m probably going to buy some land, but I don’t want to have agriculture be such a huge part of my life. As much as I believe in agriculture—and I think it’s very important that people know how to grow their own food—it’s another thing to take it on as another business and try do that at the same time as having an art career. I would not recommend it.
Recorded Brandon Stosuy, The Creative Independent interview source ↗
In my own life I think there are times when I’m not in the mood to write, but I don’t consider that to be writer’s block. If I really don’t want to enter my own book in progress, I’ll try to think about why and find a way around that. So I start from the beginning cleaning it up. Almost treat it like it’s a messy room and clean it up. Or if there’s a scene that I don’t want to write because it bums me out, maybe I’ll just work on a different scene and come back to it. Or I’m having trouble writing because I haven’t done enough research. So I go do the research. I try to troubleshoot, or figure out what the underlying reason is.
Recorded Scarlett Harris, The Creative Independent interview source ↗
Phil Elverum American musician and songwriter
I just let it sit there. Yeah, I do get it. It’s more like ideas come in waves and I don’t try and force it. Although I haven’t for a while. In the past year and a half, I can’t keep up with the ideas. I have a lot of ideas, and that’s a great feeling. It hasn’t been this way for a long time.
Recorded Rebecca Hiscott, The Creative Independent interview source ↗

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