How to Work Through Your Creative Constipation
By: Martin Van Duyse
Tags: Focus, Writing Tips, Writing, Flow, Writers Block

How to Work Through Your Creative Constipation

Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

Writing great content can be difficult. It’s usually hard to start writing and I don’t always have ideas for my next article. I used to make the mistake by only focusing on the content of what I wanted to create. That was a misconception though.

In the past few weeks, I’ve applied a technique that has greatly helped me to create new content. Most important was that I needed to focus on the process of writing, instead of the content. With the process I created for myself, I maximally use the way the brain works to come up with the best results. I found that it worked. Here’s how this process will also work for you.

Use your brain as you’re meant to use it

The approach I’ve used in the last couple of weeks uses three essential qualities of how our brains work, which are:

Focused mode of thinking : logical and detailed thinking. This includes working on the title, structure and content of the article;

: logical and detailed thinking. This includes working on the title, structure and content of the article; Flow : getting in a state of “deep work” that immerses you fully and helps you to create your best work. This can also be described as “hyper-focus”;

: getting in a state of “deep work” that immerses you fully and helps you to create your best work. This can also be described as “hyper-focus”; Diffused mode of thinking: essential for connecting the dots, solving problems and linking different pieces of information together.

You can use all of these 3 qualities to your advantage if you’re smart about it.

Focus and flow

To come up with your best work, you need to focus on what you are doing. In the focused mode of thinking, you build your storyline, set up the structure of your article and also make sure your grammar is correct. This all requires logic, planning and structure. Ideally, you want to make sure you can focus for at least 20 to 30 minutes without being disturbed. When working for a longer period on something you’re good at and love doing, it’s likely that you will experience flow.

Flow is the sweet spot where you need to be during your creative process. This happens because your brain is fully engaged in what you’re doing and does not have any capacity to process anything else. Your worries will vanish and words will flow naturally. After all, worries also take up computing power of your brain, which is unavailable in a flow state. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a professor in the field of positive psychology, defined flow as:

…being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follow inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost

Photo by Gordon Williams on Unsplash

Creating optimal conditions for flow

Flow will not come automatically. Flow requires you to be fully immersed in what you´re doing. Hence, any distractions will be detrimental. Fortunately, there are many prerequisites for flow that you can influence quite easily.

First of all, you need to make sure that you will not get disturbed for at least half an hour. Pick an environment that works best for you. Personally, for example, I need to be alone to concentrate. Having a smartphone in the room is generally also not a good idea. So get rid of the smartphone and kill all social media sessions on your computer. Social media are poison to your creativity and will suck you in. Moreover, the constant pop-ups will get you out of flow each time and it will take you 10 to 20 minutes to get to the same level of flow again.

Ideally, before you start writing you’ve already finished your background research and set up the structure of your article. You will generally not get into a flow with these activities. Reading articles with previously unknown information is like learning. When you’re learning you’re not yet fully adept in that specific field. To achieve flow, however, you need to be reasonably good at what you do already. By dividing your work into segments, you can still get into a flow state for part of the work.

As a bare minimum, you at least split your work into two segments; tasks you’re good at and tasks you’re not yet good at. Moreover, when you’ve set up the structure of your article, already include small sentences with the outcome of your background research — including backlinks. That way, you don’t need to go back to the posts a second time over.

Once you’ve set everything up, you can focus on the process of writing. Set a timer for 25 to 30 minutes. Write without interruption during this timeframe to get into flow. Longer timeframes are of course also possible, but by setting a shorter timeframe you can motivate yourself better. I at least need this, as I’m not always the paragon of discipline when it comes to writing.

Photo by Ed O’Neil on Unsplash

This way of working is also called the “Pomodoro technique”, named after a tomato-shaped timer. The method is developed in the ’80s by Francesco Cirillo. Instead of focusing on the content of the work, it is a simple technique that lets you focus on the writing process itself. After you’ve followed the process and spend 25 to 30 minutes on writing, you can reward yourself with a small break. This break also has a function, as you’ll discover next.

Solving problems by procrastinating

When we’re writing, we mainly use the focused mode of our brain. In this mode, we process details and work in a logical and structured way towards our intended goal. This is essentially what we do optimally in a flow state. However, when we need to fit information together creatively and learn new things, we also need our diffused mode of thinking.

For the diffused mode to kick in you need to take a break, rest or sleep. Your brains keep processing different pieces of information and working on your problems in the background. This is essential to come up with your best work and to break that writer’s block. So sometimes it’s best to just throw in the towel if you can’t seem to figure out how to best get your thoughts on paper.

Your brain will of course not start working on a problem if you haven’t immersed yourself in it first. Therefore, if you want to write a creative article it’s best to start with 30 to 60 minutes of focused work. It doesn’t have to be your best work at this stage; it’s more important to start. Then take a break and procrastinate. Your brain will solve your problems for you while you’re in the shower. Only after you’ve set your work aside, you’re able to think about the bigger picture.

Taking a break will also help you with revising your text. As revising is a vital part of writing, it is important that you do this with your best and creative insights. Not only do you want to make sure your grammar and sentence structure are ok but you also want to assess your article as a whole. Does it convey the right message? Does the article flow and is it easy to read?

After you’ve taken a break, it’s easier to see the big picture. When you take some distance from what you’ve written, it’s easier to see what can be improved. By doing this after a break, you fully use your brain’s diffused mode of thinking.

The process

The thought of coming up with a new idea and writing a new piece can feel daunting. When I feel this “fear of writing”, or writer’s block, I generally like it better to start binge-watching instead. However, by focusing on the process of writing, I have a clear idea when I will work and for how long. The idea of “built-in” breaks and rewards is also a tremendous help.

In summary, the process to optimally use the power of your brain is:

Set up the structure of the article or chapter you are writing. The structure includes the general idea, title and subheadings. Note that perfection is not the goal in this step; Conduct your background research. Write down useful information in the structure you’ve set up in step 1 with backlinks to the relevant articles. That way, you don’t have to go back to the website for a second time; Write for 25 to 30 minutes without any interruption. Fully take advantage of your flow state. Pick your work environment well. Eliminate distractions such as social media; Take a break for 5 to 10 minutes. Let the diffused mode of thinking kick in to let you see the bigger picture; Revise your article. Not only check your grammar. Also, make sure that your article conveys the right message.

With this article, I hope I’ve inspired you to give this method a chance. Let me know what you think in the comments below!