Builders Block

[Delta62]

Hey guys,

long time no see. I've been very busy lately since now that I am in college studying for a degree in graphic arts and its been a while since I have built with lego. I tried getting back into building today now that its spring break and couldnt let my creativity flow for some reason. It feels like there is a huge brick (no pun intended) in my mind and its not letting me make things. Guess i use it too much creativity at school lol and now it probably wants to relax. Just not sure how to unbrick it and start building again. Is this a phase in lego building or did i use my imagination too much in my classes? How do you guys get back in the game after a long time?

[GarryTheMinifig]

Personally, whenever I get builder's block, I force myself to build. No theme or shape in mind, I just throw stuff together until I come across some combination of bricks that looks neat and then inspiration strikes. Works for any kind of creative block really, at least for me.

Edited March 15, 2014 by GarryTheMinifig

[Dayton]

I only really have builders block when i get sick and have a bad attitude which is very rare for me. My advice is to go look at a lot of mocs on the internet to try and inspire you :)

[Dubbadgrim]

One thing you can do is 'remake' one of your favorite sets. Expand the size dramatically, add in lots of detail and more landscape etc. My favourite of all my creations is my own remake of the castle set 6078, it was an absolute blast to build as well and let me get really creative while sticking to an overall guideline / theme.

[VK-318]

Try building something according to - gasp - the instructions! Seriously, build something from instructions or something that you know well enough to build in your sleep, so to speak. Then try to find a good way to make it better. That should get you started.

Or you might try looking for some unusual pieces in your collection and try to make something out of them. I like to make micro-scale spaceships, and many of my most memorable builds started because I saw some unusual piece and wondered what I could build with it. Most of those odd parts never did wind up in the first build they started, and a couple of really difficult pieces have sparked multiple builds each and never been part of the final version of any of them, but that's unimportant.

[BEAVeR]

I've experienced that builder's block as well... Most of the time, it strikes when I want to build something outside of my comfort zone. and rather then following the regular techniques, I want to use new ones... which is quite a challenge. To get my juices going again, I usually return to my comfort zone. Either I build something from instructions, or rather then creating something from pure memory, I try to reproduce gien pictures with bricks. That way you channel your creativity in the problem of building, and ignore the visualizing aspect for a while. This is less overwhelming, and when building, some part or combination may spark your imagination to get building on your own again. I imagine trying to recreate someone else's MOC could be an interesting challenge as well, but I've never tried that before...

[emilstorm]

I unfortunately don't have time to build anymore, but when I did this would happen every now and then. I would sort my bricks if that happened. It would often inspire me to build something just looking at all those parts.