How creating art can help you break through writer's block
A registered psychotherapist explains why it's effective
I’ve always had a keen interest in fine arts. In high school I took art class all the way through Grade 13 (I was in one of the last cohorts in Ontario to have a Grade 13 — known as OAC — and a requirement if you wanted to attend university), not because I was particularly artistically talented, but I loved the stories beneath different works and playing around with different mediums without pressure to produce anything significant.
Writing has and always will be my first love, but every once in a while I’m pulled to experiment with other forms and mediums. Most recently, for a bachelorette, I got to test out my hand-sculpting skills in a pottery class. I decided to make a vase (since I wanted to create something I’d actually use), perusing Pinterest to get inspired. The vase didn’t turn out exactly like my inspo-pic, but considering I hadn’t used clay since high school, it turned out decent enough that I’m not relegating it to a box in the basement (I’m keeping it out to remind myself to keep experimenting). The experience invigorated a different part of my creative self, making me wonder what ways it could be useful to keep experimenting with different art forms to help me as a writer.
I brought this idea up to Carrie Cardwell, a registered psychotherapist, trained in expressive therapy, based in Toronto, Canada, curious to know what ways creating physical art could help someone who feels at home with words. Could it help expand my creativity? Help with writer’s block? Release perfectionist tendencies? Here’s what she had to say.
What kind of neuroscience connection is there between art and writing?
In the past, the “left brain" was identified with language, logic, and math. The “right brain" was considered to govern the creative process. (Betty Edwards book, published in 1979, “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, a course in enhancing creativity and artistic confidence,” attests to this thinking. This still a gem of a book used by many.)
However, this binary way of seeing the brain has been debunked. Many parts of the brain are engaged simultaneously in many activities. We don't know much about the brain, really.
Writers naturally gravitate to words. What ways can it be useful for a writer to engage in visual arts — such as drawing, painting, ceramics, etc?
For writers “stuck” in a writer’s block, engagement in the visual arts may very effectively free up creativity that is repressed. That is, if the writer can let go of product-oriented processes, where the frustration of not creating a satisfying “product” may trigger the very perfectionism from which she is trying to escape. Similarly, some classically trained musicians may find it almost impossible to sit down and “jam” at a piano. Some classically trained Ballet dancers may find it difficult to rock or funk out.
Unlike dancing or singing, drawing is similar to writing in an innate preference to act upon the page. For writers who want to explore indirect ways of accessing freer thought, drawing might be very helpful if seen in the context of play.
But it depends on the individual. Fine arts requiring formal training such as ceramics or painting might be a good fit for a detailed-oriented writer, who might be uncomfortable with loose, uncontrolled marks on paper. On the other hand, she may work well with graphite which allows more control and detail.
“If a writer is feeling ‘stuck’ and wants to loosen up his literary mind, drawing may be a very accessible, concrete avenue to opening one’s curiosity.”
Can engaging in visual arts help a writer with writer's block?
Yes, If a writer likes to draw, or is open to it, art making can be incredibly useful to relax the mind, again, especially as a form of play. We show preferences early in life: the child writer-to-be walks around with a notepad scribbling before she knows how to write. She may or may not like to draw, but may find collage more meditative.
If a writer is feeling “stuck” and wants to loosen up his literary mind, drawing may be a very accessible, concrete avenue to opening one’s curiosity.
Drawing can be an indirect, clever way around the strict rule-bound writer. Like unconscious memories, creativity may be more safely expressed through drawing (in this context, safer from tyranny of perceived “good” art). Conversely, for verbose writers losing a sense of purpose and depth, art making may be a more direct channel to emotions.
Consider materials: Cray-pas (a less expensive form of oil pastels) cover the page with bright colours quickly, with pressure that can be heavy and strong, or light and layered. Some prefer the control and simplicity of graphite. Some like to work with large pieces of paper, others prefer more intimate small sketchbooks.
What other ways can engaging in art help a writer?
Say you feel pent up. Draw an angry or energetic scribble. Get it out. Or, draw “stuck.” Is it a feeling shown by abstract lines? Or an image of being stuck in a corner? Pay attention to this, be present. It will change.
If drawing brings up disappointment because the result isn’t a pretty picture (it is too difficult to let go of “product vs.process” thinking).
Drum or dance wildly with no expectation. Drum loudly, then softly. Rhythmically, then randomly. Sound and dance release energy. With people, or in solitude? Be deliberate as this can be empowering.
“Move away from the thought that you can’t draw and are not an artist. We do not need to be an ‘artiste’ to draw any more than we must orate poetry when talking.”
If you haven't done art in a long time, how do you suggest getting started?
Mindset: Move away from the thought that you can’t draw and are not an artist. We do not need to be an artiste to draw any more than we must orate poetry when talking. It is not about making a good drawing. It is a different form of communication.
Loosen you up so ideas can float up like a feather. This won’t happen if you are glaring down at yourself.
Make a scribble. Tear it up (drawings here are not precious). Arrange the pieces touching, but randomly. What do you see? Draw it or write about it.
I’d love to know if any other creatives dabble in other mediums where they have no vested interest in as a way to have fun/experiment/take the pressure off your current project? I know I’m going to continue to experiment, at the very least for a creative distraction.
*For anyone who is curious about this post’s image selection, I think this artist is worth a mention. Sofonisba Anguissola, considered to be the most important woman artist of the Renaissance, was known for her portraiture, eventually becoming a lady-in-waiting for Philip II of Spain’s third wife and painting portraits of the royal family. At the time women were not allowed to be formally trained as artists, unless they were privately taught, making it difficult to succeed. Born into a wealthy family, Anguissola’s father sent her to learn under painter Bernadino Campi (pictured). This self-portrait is considered a sophisticated mise-en-abyme (painting within a painting), as it shows her teacher, Campi, painting Anguissola. The third hand that appears to reach out and take the brush from the painter’s hand was discovered in 1996 when the painting was being restored. According to the art publication Frieze, “the work served as an allegory for the act of teaching.”