11 Creative Ideation Experiments for When You Feel Blocked
I didn’t feel much like writing today. Last week, I hopped on a PDX —> PHX flight to co-lead a women’s hiking adventure in the Grand Canyon. 🌵 While that was, of course, frickin’ awesome, I’m also way behind on sleep and taking care of my physical body. And with that, inspiration is not at my normal Tuesday level.
To be annoyingly honest, I rarely encounter creative blockage/writer’s block. I’ve spent years embracing the ebbs and flow of a true creative cycle, so I leverage my energy to be 100% in creative mode when I feel it, and not guilt myself when I’m not feeling it. 🤷♀️
You may recall that my first successful small biz was around menstrual cycle awareness/tracking. To this day, I use the principles of cyclical living both in my own work and when I’m working with clients. (Actually, it’s often a main reason women want to work with me specifically — they want to use their natural rhythms when building out their idea!)
Here’s a doodle showing how I see cyclical creativity (which you can embrace without having menstrual cycles, don’t worry):
Figure A: Impact over time comparing linear + cyclical creativity
Linear creativity (green spiky line) looks like pushing though blocks, working on an idea, bringing it to life, then letting it fall away, over and over again. You make an impact, but then go back to square one. I see this when people launch a product without making space for the full creative cycle, then it goes into their graveyard of business ideas, and they pivot to another idea, over and over.
But cyclical creativity (flowy gold line) is where I see myself and my clients build sustainable products, services, and movements over time without burning out. It’s about reiterating an intentional idea after experimenting and collecting feedback, then giving it (and yourself) time to rest before picking it back up. You end up having more impact over time, in a slower, gentler way.
🔄 There are four phases of this cyclical creativity — and I’m literally copy/pasting the below from my creative consulting webpage:
Ideate with Intention: In this phase, we’ll nail down your vision, identify your special sauce, and make sure your project plan is intentional and sustainable for your lifestyle.
Build the Strategy: Together, we’ll craft the architecture behind your platform and determine the most effective ways to get to your goal idea. We’ll come up with a promotion plan and understand where it actually makes sense to show up digitally (and IRL).
Launch the Damn Prototype: This is whatchu came for! But it’s only one piece of the process. In this phase, we’ll get a working version of your idea into the world to test and play with. Cue the celebration.
Feedback and Reiteration: Any great creative process has this phase, yet so many brilliant brains don’t make the time for it! We’ll end with a rock solid plan to tweak your THING and make it glow even more.
Compare that with this screenshot from a post I made in that menstrual cycle business:
Figure B: The phases of a menstrual cycle compared to the creative process
^ When I built my menstrual cycle business, I had no idea that I was mostly building a foundation for my future work in creative consulting… and yet, that’s exactly what Figure A would expect. 😉
SO ANYWAY. I want my Tuesday letters to be practical for you, not just musings. In my own idea-sparking exercise, I just challenged myself to give you a list of exercises to try when you’re feeling blocked in that first phase of the creative process, the ideation phase.
Women typically come to me with an existing idea, but it’s only partially formed. Like, they know they want to put on a community building event, or start a podcast, or turn what they’re helping friends with into a paid-for service on the side. But they don’t fully know (yet) what format, structure, or strategy to use to launch the idea and see it flourish.
Here are 11 experiments to try if you get stuck in the Ideation phase of the creative process.
(BTW I challenged myself to come up with 5 and inspiration took over! Proof of the magic!)
1. Come Up with Terrible Ideas 🤯
Giving yourself permission to bomb takes the pressure off. What unhinged ideas can you think of? What would be the most unbearable podcast ever? What event is doomed from the start? What business is so weird nobody would buy from it? The ideas might all be terrible, but you might unearth something with legs.
2. Pair the Unpairable 🤝
Pick two random things/concepts (bandanas and Taylor Swift; menstruation and marketing; mountain goats and coworking) and brainstorm how they could intersect. Eras-themed bandanas to sell on Etsy? Event planning based on your cycle? Outdoor coworking meetups? What are all the ways two things you’re actually interested in could intersect?
3. Make Fake Rules 🎲
Constraints lead to creativity. Come up with some fake rules to make your brain find a new path. Challenge yourself to come up ideas that… must be done in 12 minutes, must rhyme, must fit on a Post-it, must involve the color orange… Plus, gamification is just more fun!
4. Use the Creative Compass 🧭
Biz bestie Emily Holland and I are using this right now with some journalism college students! Draw a four circle Venn diagram with a) what interests you, b) what you’re good at, c) what the world needs, and d) what you could get paid for. Fill in some of the overlaps with ideas, but no pressure right away to find the overlap of all four.
5. Borrow from Other Industries 💡
Look at how another industry/type of work solves problems (fashion, hospitality, trail maintenance?) and take a principle from there. What can you take from Hollywood to add some innovation to your community event? What can you take from slow fashion to add to your consulting business? What are UX designers doing that you could translate to your writings?
6. Try a “30 Ways” Sprint ⏱️
Set a timer for 10 minutes and list 30 ways to solve one creative problem. The first 10 might be obvious, the next 10 could get weird, and the last 10 miiiight be gold. What are 30 ways you could make $10,000 this month? You won’t necessarily try any, but it gets the brain waves flowing.
7. Go Analog ✍️
Ask yourself: How would this have happened 50 years ago? I’ve been loving the return of more “analog” marketing techniques like fliers and mailings (have you seen this too?). Snail mailing invites to my Outdoor Period Pledge felt so out-of-the-box even though that’s exactly what would’ve happened before email! Maybe you just write by hand instead of Google Docs. The change of pace can spark new ideas.
8. Build a Moodboard or Playlist 🎧
Y’all, you know I’m not a visual designer (see Figure A). But there’s something to visualizing the feel of an idea before it’s fully formed. Colors, textures, imagery, music… it can all set the tone to help your idea fully come to life. (Plus you get visual and audio reminders to leave in the background as you go about your day!)
9. Shrink the Big Thing 🧠
What’s the smallest, simplest possible version of your big idea? In biz school, they talk about “minimal viable products.” It’s like that — what’s the tiniest example of the idea? (Also, this is KEY for later in the creative process, when we build your prototype!)
10. Keep Dump Lists 🗒️
Emily always laughs at how often I say “dump,” but can’t stop, won’t stop. I have dump lists for everything: story ideas, future events, potential programs. Whenever something pops into my head that piques my interest, I throw it on its corresponding Dump List “for later.” Then, if I’m feeling blocked, I can go back to look at it and see if my past ideas spark any inspiration.
11. Talk Out Loud 🎙️
This is one of the reasons why I build in ongoing voice memo communication to my creative consulting packages: Sometimes, you don’t fully know what you believe or how many thoughts you have until you’re asked to say them aloud. One of the first calls I have with new clients is a “Rant Sesh” where I ask them a bunch of Q’s about what they believe, related to their idea/industry. Almost always, they say at the start, “Well I don’t have much to say…” and afterwards, “Wow, turns out I have a ton of opinions.” (This recorded session becomes the basis of their messaging when they launch!)
Wondering how you got here? Hi, I’m Angie! 👋 I’m a creative director and not-elite-just-enthusiastic athlete living in the mountains and rivers of Washington. I talk about the tough stuff — Blood, Sweat, and Fear — with the goal of building a happier, healthier world for women. You can check out all the ways to work with me here, or follow me on Instagram and LinkedIn.
For Winter 2025-2026, I currently have some space available for 1:1 women’s creative consulting as well as sports and outdoor brand support. And don’t miss my group program, the Feral Women’s Creative Lab.