Unlock Your Creativity: Four Tips to Conquer Writer's Block ...From the Outside!

There was a time when a friend noted that I was the most prolific writer she knew. I averaged a poem a day, I wrote blog posts, and also wrote essays, worked as a budding professional writer (more on that later), and was typically enrolled in some program or another: grad school, Tupelo Press's 30/30 Project, a poetry lesson vlog... Then adulthood hit and brought with it my first true dry spell. I also sustained a pretty major concussion, which was not my first or last, and I link a number of brain changes back to that bike crash (yes, thankfully, I was wearing a helmet, but my head still bounced off the road like a pingpong ball). Combine that with some psychological and physical traumatic events, and my creative voice can be much harder to connect with. But I'm a writer! I lament to myself as I do everything in my power to avoid writing.

As fellow writers, I'm sure you each understand the bliss in getting into the flow and feeling the channeling of all great storytellers who came before, the power of successfully expressing the truth of the heart. And if you have struggled with writing and especially if you also have ADHD or a Frontal Lobe Processing Disorder, as I do, which can make the sitting down to actually write and find the starting point of what you want to say an odd physical and literal challenge, then you understand the frustrations.

But I wouldn't be a successful writer and editor if I didn't find workarounds. One of the reasons I host my retreats in the most beautiful landscapes I know is because it can help break through those blockages. Movement and creativity go hand-in-hand for me and for many others, and nature can be our greatest muse.

Here are four tips for engaging with the outdoors to break out of a creativity block.

1. Take a Forest Bath

I first heard of Shinrin Yoku ("forest bathing") when someone gave me a book on it. It seemed to me to be mainly just pictures of the forest so I didn't pay it much mind. Not long after, writer Rob Kristoff approached me with a pitch for Dirt Rag. It was out of our typical scope, but then again so was I; as editor-in-chief, I was running a lot of stories to expand the consciousness of readers and broaden the conversation of what it means to be a mountain biker and to love mountain biking in general. We ran it.

I think back on that book now and think those photos of forests are more than just eye candy for a coffee table — over 55% of the world population lives in urban environments and that number is rapidly growing. Having photos of forests may be the closest they can easily get to forest bathing. If you are able, though, consider integrating a walking routine into your writing life. A quick stroll around your neighborhood or a longer hike in a local park can help breathe life back into your thoughts. Research shows mental clarity can kick in within just five minutes of being in nature, so just walking or rolling around your building or having a park you can access can work wonders.

Pay close attention to the details. On my daily walk with my dog, I have to force myself to take out my headphones and listen to the birds instead of my podcasts, and it's always worth it. It calms my tinnitus, and I come home feeling empowered to tackle a project instead of worried about whatever political catastrophe I just spent a half hour listening to Noel King explain. Take in the colors, the textures, the sounds. Stay in the moment for the time being. I often encourage carrying a note taking device because creativity will likely hit, but for at least a few moments, allow yourself to take in the full sensory impact. It will lower your cortisol levels and set yourself up for success for the rest of the day.

2. Take It (All) Outside

While some people like to work in a coffee shop, that can be really hit or miss for me. If I'm already feeling creatively free, the energy of other people working, conversing, and moving around can spark ideas and give me momentum. Other times, though, it's distracting and overwhelming. Plus, it can get expensive.

When I first started grad school, my first class was Nature Writing. It was a spring semester so it started in January, in Pittsburgh. It was an uncharacteristically wintry winter that year. I'd just moved to town. My apartment for the first couple months had no heat or electricity. I had no bed or other furniture. An ongoing assignment was to find a spot in nature and visit it daily to write. My classmates, I later found out, had scenic views they would look out at from their warm bedrooms, located a spot once and never visited, wrote from their cars, or just straight up lied. I, on the other hand, rode my bike down to the river. The freezing air did no favors to my dysgraphia or left handedness as my hand struggled to make the correct shapes of letters. My notebook became marred with watermarks from the falling snow. I struggled to concentrate on anything.

But winter turned to spring turned to summer, and I kept returning to that spot, noticing the log that slowly rotted then drifted away when the ice that barricaded it finally melted, the flowers sprout and blossom, the squirrels and humans return. It became a routine for the rest of my time in that apartment, and when I moved, i carried the tradition in new nature spots where I could hunker down.

Now, when I'm feeling claustrophobic at home or in my mind, I take my dog, along with my  my notebook or laptop (weather permitting), to the woods near my house. If I have a project I can work on, I dig in. But sometimes it's good to just free write and diary. The lack of assignment restraint can be freeing and have outsized impacts on creativity in the work I am being paid to create. But if I do have an assignment or project I can't make progress on at home (like this blog post), the change of scenery can do wonders.

3. Movement is a Muse

Getting our bodies moving not only gets our blood circulating, it can pump our creative juices as well. While hiking, trail running, cycling, building a fire, or gardening all utilize different skills and muscle groups and have different levels of muscular and cardiovascular intensity, they all require the same thing: focus. The combination of being in nature, utilizing our brains, and moving our bodies can be creatively freeing. For me, it feels like I am distracting my writer's block, as if there has been a guard standing at attention to keep the ideas from leaking from my brain to my hands and this other task makes that guard feel like they can step away from the post because there's no way I could be creative while whooshing down a mountain or hauling a bag of soil.

Joke's on that guard, though, because I am an artist with ADHD and my brain never turns off and is used to being distracted! If I'm on a bike ride or a trail run by myself, and I'm not trying to maximize my wattage or have another reason to not stop, I love having my notebook or voice recorder with me to jot down the ideas that were stuck in my brain for possibly months and have finally gotten loose.

It's similar to people who get their best ideas in the shower. When we shower, we are focused on something else, but not so intensely that our brains can't wander slighty. The pressure is off to create, so we can be our most inventive. Combine that with the positive impacts of forest bathing, and your next novella is about to pour out!

4. What a Turn-Off!

Our brains were not meant for this. The constant information bombardness. Chronic scrolling. Instant response expectation. Work emails. Slack messages. Teams chats. Text messages. Phone calls. News alerts. Amber alerts. Weather advisories. Schedule reminders. Group chats. Marketing emails. Banking reminders. Tweets. Skeets. DMs. It's. Just. Too. Much. We don't have to live this way, society wasn't on the verge of collapse before smart phones finally connected us.

If you need permission to put your phone on silent, turn off notifications, maybe go on airplane mode for 20 minutes or an hour or the rest of the day, this is it — whatever they need can wait. Of course, if your partner's about to have a baby or there's another reason you need to be on-call, then adjust accordingly. But we all deserve to go for a hike without Duolingo sending us a passive aggressive message about letting our Irish lessons lapse, Canva pinging about a new template, or an irate stranger on the internet responding to a post to let you know they don't think birds are real.

No one will give you peace except you. I have learned the hard way and really, relearn daily, that time off my devices is not only good for my mental health and my interpersonal relationships but imperative to my creative output.

Interested in connecting with nature, getting outside, and breaking free of creativity blocks? Sign up now for Eso Terra: Writing into the Elements, September 25-29 in Las Vegas, New Mexico. With spiritual practitioner Wendy Rule, we will engage in ritual, ceremony, and nature walks in a nearby wildlife refuge to center ourselves, find healing, build trust in our inner voice, and have fun writing. Plus, we will feast! Epic cycling routes and hot springs are nearby.