Had a setback? Let these stories inspire you!
Tales from the Creative Crypt.
Every single artist — and every entrepreneur, businessperson, and teacher — has experienced setbacks.
Seriously. Every single person you know who has made something amazing has done it while busting through incredible blocks.
But honestly? People rarely ever talk about it.
There’s so much pressure to look like you have everything together. We want people to think we’re awesome. So we hide our stumbles and struggles.
But thankfully, there are lots of stories about pushing through a creative block. Exploring through narrative, amirite?
Thankfully, these stories often offer solutions to their character’s blocks. We can cheer them on in real time! And, you know, gather inspiration.
I should note: Most people in fictional stories about pushing through creative blocks are men. If you want more variety, Elizabeth Gilbert, Isabel Allende and Rosamund Stone Zander (among many others!) have spoken on fighting creative blockage IRL.
Charlie in Adaptation.
What he did wrong: Trying to get blood from a stone.
Let’s start with a classic! In Adaptation, Charlie Kaufman is tasked with writing a screenplay version of (real book) The Orchid Thief.
He’s a professional. He’s seasoned in his field. But Charlie’s working with highly limited material and finds that he can’t adapt the book as it is. Soon he’s spiraling down into depression and a self-defeating mindset. It must be him. He must suck.
What he did right: Asked for help.
Of course, this isn’t true! Charlie is incredibly talented. But the problem is that he was stuck in his own head.
Of course, he’s skeptical when his doofish brother offers to help with the project. But it ends up saving the piece.
Put this into practice:
A fresh perspective from someone who hasn’t burned out on the project already — it can be gasoline to the flame! Even if they have nothing to add, explaining the project may help you see it a new way. You may have been too close!
Nina in Black Swan.
What she did wrong: Over-invested in learning.
Oh, Nina. I understand you so well. When you’re faced with a project (or a role) that isn’t like anything you’ve ever done before, the temptation is to educate yourself on everything in the field you haven’t learned yet. More knowledge means more progress. Right?
Dead wrong. Over the course of Black Swan, Nina goes crazy trying to learn the missing piece to playing the Black Swan. What is she missing? What’s the missing bit of knowledge?
Even if we don’t dance, we can all sometimes find ourselves spinning in circles. Reading books over and over again before the launch. Subscribing to way too many instructional newsletters. I call it Research Paralysis, and I am entirely guilty of it.
What she did right: Trusted her own expertise.
In the end, the missing piece wasn’t some new move or mindset trick. It was Nina letting go.
She had all the pieces she needed to play the Black Swan. She’d danced for years. She had the emotional knowledge, even if she didn’t want to admit it. By trusting herself, she could just do the thing.
Put this into practice:
We forget about the quality of mastery if we’ve been doing something long enough. But it’s true! You are the sum of everything you’ve ever learned. So stop thinking and just do the thing!
The McDonald Brothers in The Founder (and real life!)
What they did wrong: Choosing a limited market.
Maurice and Richard wanted to earn money making fast food. But fast food as we know it today simply didn’t exist back in the 40s and 50s. It was more like the modern drive-in diner: Lots of wait staff and restaurant-style food prep.
The brothers could definitely make money doing this. But their capacity for success was limited. Service was slow and prone to human error.
Most people would just choose another kind of business to run, but the brothers had had a few ventures already and they wanted to succeed. It was a matter of love!
What they did right: Changed the market itself.
When life gives you lemons and you need limes, why not make a lemon-lime hybrid?
Okay, that’s silly. But that’s pretty much what the McDonald brothers did to the restaurant business. They were absolutely determined to succeed in the space, so they changed the space itself.
The result was the Speedy System, a.k.a. the coordinated system that almost ever fast food restaurant today uses. The brothers broke down exactly what they needed, and kept experimenting until they got it.
Put this into practice:
Who says your medium of work has to stay the same? Make what you want to make, even if you need to switch up the tools!
Try teaching your course by drawing on a whiteboard. Do your next Facebook Live while out on a walk. Draw your lesson plan out instead of writing it. Play with different methods, and you may just strike gold.
Paul in Misery.
To be clear: I’m talking about the book version of Misery. The 1990 film is amazing! But the book deals the creative process much more intimately.
In both stories, Paul is compelled to write a sequel in his long-running Misery series that satisfies the whims of superfan Annie Wilkes.
But the book places special emphasis on the fact that it has to be a Misery novel. Not just something Paul wrote to please Annie. He has to write a novel that fits into the canon of his previous work. If he doesn’t, Annie will kill him.
No pressure, right?
What he did wrong: He did what he knew would “work.”
The first few chapters of Misery Returns has a very simple explanation for why Misery died: They just got it wrong. She’s alive after all, yay!
But that’s not good enough for Annie. She feels cheated. She feels like Paul is making a mockery of her as a reader.
The sad part is that she’s right. Paul took the easy way out by (in his mind) giving Annie what she wanted. But Annie craved authenticity within the story. That’s what we want with our art and our business, right? We want the real stuff.
What he did right: Let himself dive into the project.
In spite of his terrible circumstances, Paul managed to find it within himself to get immersed into the story of Misery Returns. The only way he was going to get out of his mess was to dive right in.
Turns out, they didn’t just “get it wrong” with Misery. She was stung by a bee and suffered an allergic reaction that was like death. In true bodice-ripper fashion, the main characters run to the graveyard to rescue her from a potentially real death of being buried alive. That’s a much better story!
By letting himself give the story the headspace it deserved, Paul was able to create a story that satisfied Annie.
Put this into practice:
Life gets hard at times for creators. But to make good art, you have to give it the time and attention it deserves.
The next time you’re stuck on a project, think about why you may be scared to immerse yourself. Is the story changing? Are you afraid of trying something new? Will you have to learn a new skill to do it right?
Be honest with yourself. Be afraid if you feel afraid. And then do it anyway.
I hope these stories have inspired you to keep going! Being stuck is something we rarely talk about as a culture. But we’re more willing to talk about it in story form. Ironic, isn’t it?
