Builders Block

[cagri]

Hi all, I have been away for a while and now I'm back for good. I returned a couple of days ago and I don't feel like doing anything at all. I have been browsing Flickr and Brickshelf but nothing amuses me. I tried to build a few times with no luck. How can I get my inspiration back? What do you do when you have a builders block? I'm done laying on my bed, I have to do something and feel useful..

[lightningtiger]

Well 'cargi', I sometimes get that way, then a little TV, YouTube or even some music....maybe read a book on what you are trying to make and just go easy....it will come to you again.

Learn, Live, Life, LEGO !

[Aanchir]

Hi all, I have been away for a while and now I'm back for good. I returned a couple of days ago and I don't feel like doing anything at all. I have been browsing Flickr and Brickshelf but nothing amuses me. I tried to build a few times with no luck. How can I get my inspiration back? What do you do when you have a builders block? I'm done laying on my bed, I have to do something and feel useful..

Often I goof around with LDD if I can't think of anything to build in real life. Particularly in LEGO Universe mode and LDD Extended mode, the wide selection of pieces can be a source of inspiration. Oftentimes I use official sets as inspiration for MOCs-- for example, I might try building an M-Tron or Blacktron MOC to fit the urban-futuristic universe of Space Police III. Or I might try building a modular building that hasn't been done before, like a preschool or day-care. Look at sets that interest you, then imagine what would make really good sets to complement them, and let that sort of imagination get your design muscles moving again.

Buying a set can be a similar source of inspiration, since it, too, can give you access to parts that you haven't really experimented with before. But it's also a more expensive source of inspiration, needless to say.

[XimenaPaulina]

I would have to agree with the tiger here, I also usually get inspiration just by watching tv, movies, listening to music, or from what I see outside on my way to and from work. The important thing I guess is to 'never force the issue' and just let inspiration come to you naturally. I believe that's where the best creations come from.

[airsoftg36c]

My cure for "builders block" is getting a large box of legos. Take 2 or 3 large parts, stick them together, and just use whatever brick you can reach and put it anywhere you can. I had "Bb" the other day, I did something like that, and came out with a duck bust and a very odd looking mini MTT. It gives me ideas, and I dont have "builders block" for a long time.

A few friends of mine have tried this, and said it worked for them, so hopefully it works for you!

Remember: Don't concentrate on what your building. That never really helps. Just find something to listen to, let yourself loose in it, and build.

Whenever I'm building or playing with my legos, I ALWAYS have some sort of music playing. My laptop and Nightwish are never absent when Legoing.

Edited April 7, 2011 by airsoftg36c

[brickmack]

Usually when I have builders block I just take an official set (usually space) (or if I don't have an official set available that is put together, I go buy one) and either take it apart and make something new from the pieces, or play around with modifying it until I come up with a cool design.

[Brickdoctor]

I find one of TLG's MINI models online, and then I try to blow it out of the water with my own mini MOC. No, seriously, that's what I do.

[willy_poodle]

I haven't even started yet, I'm sorting my collection, but I have collected books about architecture, antiques and decorating and I'm going to use them as reference and ispiration.

Maybe try the same, get some albums about something you're interested in and start from there.

[fred67]

What's inspired me the most in the past year is collectible minifigures... sometimes I just see a figure and the ideas start flying for what situation that figure would be in.

If you haven't already, see if you can find a handful of random series 3 or 4 in the stores and let the ideas make themselves from whatever you get.

[EverettYA]

To cure my builder's block I often scroll through bricklink or LDD and by simply looking at the different peices it usually gives me the inpiration I need.

EverettYA

[Lego_Hero]

To cure my builder's block I often scroll through bricklink or LDD and by simply looking at the different peices it usually gives me the inpiration I need.

EverettYA

WOW, that is exactly what I was going to post. I don't use my LDD very often, but I go to bricklink and 'browse' all the time. When I come across a part I'm not familiar with, I study it to see how it can be used.

[The Spark That Bled]

I agree with fred67 that the collectable minifigures have inspired a lot of my ideas. A lot of times the inspiration starts small and grows as I start digging through my brick collection.

Sometimes I also will use instructions from the sets I have and see how I can use one element of that set and combine it with elements of another set and ideas from my own head or things I've seen online. Once again I think it's having something to make me dig through my bricks and remember just what kinds of things are in there.

I understand your pain though. I've been working on a modular building for about a month and a half. It's inspired by Italianate architecture that I see in the neighborhood I work in. I got the main structure finished but totally stalled out on the details of what I want in and around it. I can't seem to finish it and I can't seem to move on. Lego limbo.

[LEGO Guy Bri]

Everybody has there own way of getting back in their groove. Great ideas so far. As for me, I never have anything planned as far as a design for a build just a thought of what I'm going to build (i.e. vehicle, building, etc). I get my piece bins and start building a generic design. After a few mins or what it takes, I start to see where I want to go with the MOC. Details, switching parts for better look, or back tracking to allow the application of a more recent idea. Good luck