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Every artist has had to deal with it at some point or another – a mental block that keeps you from moving forward with whatever you want to create. Kamome Shirahama, the creator of the hit manga Witch Hat Atelier, has a bit of advice for those who are struggling with artists’ or writers’ block, though it might not be what we want to hear.

During a Q&A session at New York Comic Con, Shirahama shared her personal technique for getting through art blocks. “We do all face art blocks. I do too, myself. But, you know, when I became a professional artist, no matter what you do, there is always a deadline. Even if I am experiencing an art block, I just have to power through it.”

On one hand, we get it; having a deadline looming over us certainly becomes a strong motivation to get something down on the page rather than have nothing to turn in. However, that solution is certainly going to create a lot of stress for the artist, right? Well, Kamome Shirahama doesn’t necessarily think that is a bad thing. When asked about how much she plans ahead in the story, she admitted that the parts of Witch Hat Atelier that were the least planned - the smaller details about how the characters would overcome a specific problem - were the parts that were the most gripping. “This is the biggest secret about manga, is that when the manga artist is struggling, the manga is really exciting.”

So last-minute panic and the stress of making things up on the fly are apparently the keys to making great art – at least in the mind of Witch Hat Atelier’s creator.

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