A GUIDE TO SELECTING BOOKS ABOUT
How to Overcome a Creative Block
Getting past the stress of not finding your creative flow
The books about creative blocks identify roughly three types of origins for creative blocks:
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​Self-criticism
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Criticism from others
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Lack of inspiration
If there’s some form of criticism involved, the solutions very much overlap with those in the self-esteem area. A stressed state of nervous system disables a person to express itself and a sense of safety needs to be restored first.
When there’s no clear indication of why inspiration isn’t flowing, the issue may be that we’re too analytical and need to shift back into a more intuitive mode. However, stress over lack of inspiration often reinforces analytical, mechanical thinking to find a solution.
Instead, limiting information input and external stimuli is the counter-intuitive approach some authors prescribe. It’s the opposite of what we’re inclined to do.
Other books offer more mechanical exercises to stimulate creativity. These include a wide array of books with anecdotes designed to inspire or those with neuroscientific insights about creativity. Some argue that while the mechanical approach might release some creativity, it won’t be the ingenuity many are looking for.
There is a risk of bypassing deeper issues by inducing creativity – a missed opportunity to develop yourself, some would say. Instead, the fears and stories in the mind could be used for personal growth.
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Types of Books for Overcoming Creative Blocks
Here you find a list of archetypal books about overcoming creative blocks from which we captured the essence in a short summary. The books are listed in a random order. We don't earn any commission on your selection.
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"Wreck this Journal"
Keri Smith has created an interactive journal that disrupts the reader's linear way of thinking to regain their creativity. Ever read a book that told you to tear out a page? This book does. It also tells you to spill coffee, urges you to put your anger into written words, trace your foot on paper and even to lick a page. All with an idea behind it.
"The War of Art"
Steven Pressfield considers creative blocks the result of self-sabotaging, which can be overcome by developing the discipline and perseverance practices offered in the book. His advice consists of building a routine for working hours, reflecting on reasons for procrastination, overruling the mind when it tries to lure you into procrastination and making sure you do things from intrinsic motivation – reframe if necessary.
"The Creative Brain"
Drawing on scientific research, Nancy Andreasen gives readers an insight into the cognitive processes that contribute to genius and creativity and some as well as provides practical tools such as how to explore new areas of knowledge, practice observation and imagination to rediscover your creativity. She advises broadening your horizon with new experiences, reflecting on it and changing your own habits frequently.
"The Trickster's Hat"
Nick Bantock has created a large collection of unpredictable exercises and prompts - for example, suggesting you to wear old clothes - that can stimulate the reader's creative mind. Create imaginary assignments you would enjoy and execute them. The book provides various example, but it could be anything. A final key advice is to reframe creative blocks as a normal part of the creative cycle each artist goes through. This makes the fight against it into a going with the flow.
"The Artist's Way"
Julia Cameron offers a 12-week program centered on the practice of daily stream-of-consciousness writing to help individuals rediscover their creativity. Key elements are: plan a weekly activity that involves your senses, like a visit to a museum or a cooking class. Replace negative self-talk, write bad first drafts, write letters to people who drain your creative energy and burn the letters, but most and foremost: write about what you enjoy, without another purpose than the joy of it.
Bukuru's Zero-Books Approach​​​​​​​​​
Our suggestion is to consider the opposite direction of many of the books that are directly focused at inducing creativity: let go of the pursuit until it flows again by itself. Be entirely engaged for a little while with something else; take your mind of the project. But, also, limited your intake of trivial information. Take a surfing course, go dancing, paint your house.​ Or, if you have to focus on a solution, dare to ask yourself why creativity is not flowing if it's so important for you. Are you really meant to be doing this?
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About Bukuru
The core philosophy of Bukuru is that each person should test their own beliefs. The project started as a quest to categorize self-development books in such a way that it would become easier to find books that match your beliefs. However, along the way we concluded that the essence of most books can be captured in a few sentences – if the idea is original at all. Instead of helping people buy books, we now help people not buying books.
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