Boomerang Your Way Out
So, it’s happened to all of us. We hit a wall and we try to barrel through. We think, if we just keep going, we will get past our writer’s block, our editor’s conundrum, our director’s frustration.
But this is a bad idea. If you took hitting a wall literally it would be clear that hitting it hurts. And if you keep doing it, your hand will swell up and bleed. So, most people would cease doing that. They’d hit the wall and say “Ow. Guess that’s a bad idea.” and then they would walk away.
The same is true if you take that phrase figuratively. Why keep forcing your brain to try to push through that mental wall? It hurts. It makes you tired. It makes you depressed. It makes you deplete your cabinet of m&ms that you don’t remember eating because all the while you were hitting your brain so hard it couldn’t process that you were chewing.
When I hit a block, whether it’s when I’m writing a script or when I’m editing a film that maybe doesn’t have enough coverage, I take a break. This is common advice, I know. But I also know, a lot of people don’t do it or if they do, they often never go back to complete what they started. It’s more that they get frustrated and walk away rather than step away.
It’s how you step away that matters.
First off, when I move away from the desk, I either go get some chores done so my brain has that feeling of accomplishment or I read a book or watch a movie to distract myself. I go out and have other experiences. I see someone’s show. I go to the ballet. I sit at a bar and listen to music.
By doing laundry or organizing my closet for the millionth time (it always seems to devolve into a mess of clutter and I feel like it’s some weird law of physics that I can’t quite grasp) the frustration of not finishing something creative goes away. My brain is tricked into thinking the day was a success even though I was not successful at the creative thing I set out to do. My brain thinks, “Wow, look at all these clean clothes we made today and we put them in some semblance of order so we can find them again. We are remarkable.”
Distracting my brain allows it to rest and lick its wounds, so to speak. It just gives it a break. Reading a cozy murder mystery or doing a crossword puzzle keeps my brain active enough to not be able to focus on my failure to get through whatever block I’m experiencing but not working so hard that it becomes overwhelmed.
Going out and having other experiences often leads to the answer. Sometimes, I’m watching a show and suddenly I think, “I know how to fix this.” Happened to me the other night. I have been trying to sit down and spit out a screenplay and I just haven’t been able to get it down on paper. It’s too murky in my head. I went to see a production of “The Baker’s Wife” (based on a film that I do not particularly like of the same name by Marcel Pagnol, 1938) and while I was watching the show, I remembered another script idea I had and realized that idea had the solution to my problem. One thing can trigger another.
The most important thing is not to dwell on what is broken. It’s hard. Instinct tells you to just keep focusing on it and not give up. But the best thing to do is just let it go.
That’s the key. Let it go and likely the answer will come back.
It’s like a boomerang. Send it off and it will return to you.