Ten Ways to Break Through Builder’s Block

Today’s guest article about builder’s block comes from Casey McCoy, an AFOL from Chicago. You can find him online on Flickr and Instagram.

Beating Builder’s Block

Builder’s Block: It’s happened to me – it’s probably happened to you. You’re working on a MOC and you get stuck. You have an idea as to where the build should go or maybe a vague idea of what it should look like, but no concept of how to get to the destination. Don’t be frustrated! This is completely normal for a lot of creatives who can’t just flip on the creativity like a light switch.

“Builder’s Block” comes from a similar subject in creative writing with “writer’s block.” Between the two, the general definition of such a block is defined as “the inability to access one's internal creativity.” Sometimes your mind just feels completely blank, like Emmet’s at the start of the 2014 LEGO Movie:

Such a predicament can be really aggravating, especially if your MOC has some sort of deadline like a convention, collaboration, or contest. So how do you get out of this rut?

Today, I will present you with ten ways, in no particular order, that have helped me and I hope inspire you to finish that build: whether it’s an idea that spawned yesterday or is a half-built MOC that’s been sitting in a bin in your closet for half a year (definitely not speaking from experience here).

#1 - Throw Bricks at the Wall and See What Sticks

When I sit down at my build table to continue a project I’m working on, sometimes I’ll get stuck and look at my WIP. And just stare at it. And think and stare. And stare so much I freeze. To get out of it, I may need to command my body to just do literally anything. Get up out of the chair and move your legs. Move your hands and open a drawer. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes, you can edit the build later. Don’t think, just put your hands in motion and go!

What you make doesn’t even have to be for the project you’re working on now. It can be the equivalent of a LEGO warmup set. Start a little subassembly, make a little table scrap, or play around with a handful of bricks or minifigs. Literally anything is better than nothing. What’s important is that you start the creative flow state, even if it’s rusty to start. This is what I see as the “brute force” method for getting out of a building block ditch. 

#2 - Get Feedback From a Friend or the Community

Send your work-in-progress model or describe your idea to a trusted friend, preferably an AFOL! Or reach out to your trusted LEGO building community, whether that’s in-person at a LUG meeting, in a group mentoring context, in a forum, or whatever!

Ask for what’s working or what doesn’t. Invite others to give suggestions on how to “solve” your “problem.” From what I’ve experienced, LEGO people typically have no shortage of ideas and will be happy to help. My “go-to” for feedback has historically been my “accountabuildibuddy” Simon Liu. In the gallery above you can see a few examples of me looking for advice on how to move forward from the last couple of years.

#3 - Draw/Sketch It Out

I started employing this method just last year. Drawing is helpful as you step outside the LEGO artform into a completely different medium for a change of pace. You don’t even have to be “good” at drawing! You don’t need to display this drawing for everyone to see—it’s for you to get ideas and be inspired! The page is a completely blank canvas for you to quickly try out ideas and imagine their translation into the LEGO space.

Here are a few examples of my own sketches and finished builds. Notice how the LEGO versions don’t look 1:1, and I change the build as I go along.

Here’s a few more examples by @alex_mocs who documents their sketching on Instagram:

“But I can’t draw!” you say. Wrong! First off, I don’t believe you. Anyone can draw. I “can’t draw” and I still do it anyway. Here’s my quick process as an untrained sketcher:

Always start with very light strokes. Sketch it out. If the line/pen/pencil doesn’t go the way you want, ignore it and course correct. Erase if needed.

Explore the shape of the idea with weird/different designs.

Let the process guide you. Let each stroke inform the next one.

Once the idea/design takes a formal shape, redo the best lines with a heavier handstroke, pressure, etc., to bolden the lines.

Refer back to the emboldened sketch in your build process to help guide you when getting stuck.

YouTube can teach you more! I recommend "LEARN TO DRAW FROM 0 to 100!”

#4 - Brick Sketch

If you still don’t want to draw with pen or pencil, you can do something called “brick sketching.” This is where you loosely arrange pieces or subassemblies without making system connections. This way you “draw” with the pieces into a rough shape or idea.

I do this most often with sub assemblies that I need connected without any idea on how to make that happen. I may have a rough idea of what the approximate spacing between the two assemblies may be, but it could vary in the X, Y, and Z axis.

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In the gallery above, you can see some examples of WIPs that I’ve posted on my Instagram. In these, there’s an extremely loose frame, just barely holding what I’m thinking of doing in place. Once I find a spacing that seems “correct,” I’ll jerry-rig them in place and take a photo for reference if needed. Then, I can start trying connections based on the rough shaping.

This is also an intentionally brick sketched mosaic by Katie Walker, but is an excellent example of loose arrangement making a larger whole:

#5 - Walk Away, Think, and Sleep On It

Maybe the reason why you’re blocked creatively is because you’re creatively exhausted. Or generally exhausted. Sometimes the best way to refresh creatively is to do nothing creative at all.

Image via THe LEGO MOvie

Go outside and take a walk, go lift some weights at the gym, read a novel, go to bed and dream about it, etc. The point is to do anything unrelated to building to recharge your building batteries. Return to the build with a refreshed perspective.

#6 - Reference Other Artwork or Image Generation

Whatever your method is, the goal is to get inspired through any visual means necessary. You can browse anything from Google Images, DeviantArt, YouTube videos, Flickr, Pinterest, Instagram, or any number of photo-sharing platforms for what you’re currently working on.

As perhaps the most controversial suggestion on this list, you can also employ AI generation to help give inspiration (BrickNerd has explored the many pros and cons of AI generation in the LEGO community). If you have no idea how to create a “10 Wheeled Polka Dotted Big Rig Piloted by an Elderly Hamster,” this will start spitting out some visual representation on how to make that happen:

You can even add “LEGO” into the prompts, but beware as this can have horrifying results and is only a starting point.

#7 - Word Association

This is probably the most unique suggestion to break through builder’s block, but if you’re more of a verbal/linguistic thinker, try employing a word-associative cloud/network. Websites like wordassociations.net prompt users to enter one word and return a host of similar or related words. Let’s say you’re working on a wild west town and struggling to come up with what to populate it with. Here’s what I get for cowboy:

It’s not perfect, but it can springboard words into each other in a never-ending rabbit hole of creativity.

#8 - Listen to Music for Inspiration

This is one of my favorites! Try to involve all the senses by setting the mood to get your mind into the headspace of build. I’ve done this a few times including:

Twin Peaks Tribute Build’s soundtrack: mostly the soundtrack from the show.

Noir: Grade-A Gray Day’s soundtrack: custom noir mix.

Octan Tower’s soundtrack: the New Hashima mix.

Simon Liu’s Wake Me Up soundtrack: ultimate SHIPtember mix.

If you don’t want to make your own playlist, searching YouTube with build keywords and “music” will do the trick. Again, let’s say you’re working on a wild west MOC, pull up some spaghetti western soundtracks to get the feeling. Here are a few results:

For more on using music in MOCs, see my previous BrickNerd article here.

#9 - Switch to a Different Project

Sometimes a change of pace is what you need. It’s as simple as, “Once you run into a roadblock with one build, switch over to the other.” Think of it like a game of building project hot potato. And if you don’t have a different project, I guess it’s time to start one! 

Here’s my WIP projects in late 2023. Two of these are actual MOCs now.

As you get lost in the side build, you’ll inadvertently get ideas on how to solve your previous roadblocks. This way you stay creative and productive!

#10 - Dig Through Your Collection for Inspiration

Time to go searching! While we tend to have highly organized systems, having a disorganized “random” bin can greatly spark imagination when needed. Force yourself to use an extremely weird or obscure piece that you dig up.

This helped me fill space on my Octan Tower. I needed to fill out one wall and went through my “big and bulky” parts bin full of hard-to-use prefab elements. I settled on this blue 2635 Support Crane Stand Double as a coal bin support. Imposing such a “limitation” greatly helps resolve the block.

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Example of My Creative Process Map

To bring things to a close, I may use any number of the above ten suggestions in any combination when I’m working on a project. Here’s an example of a creative process map for a build I may work on:

It’s a roundabout way of getting there, but it’s undeniably me, and I find a lot of AFOLs are the same.

Hopefully, today, you learned a tool or two to implement that can help you get out of any build ruts you may find yourself in now or in the future. If there wasn’t a tool mentioned above, leave it in the comments and share how you have gotten out of builder’s block!

Editor’s 11th Bonus Tip: Ask anyone for a silly build challenge or prompt and spend the night making a fun, quick build!

How do you break builder’s block when creating a LEGO MOC? Let us know in the comments below.

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