How do you cure writers block?

  • Woah! Glad you made it!


    I'm thinking more like splash around in the waves, not epic tale of survival. ;)

    Thanks haha. Well, I was "born" in the sea, pretty much, so pretty confident I would make it to shore sooner or later :D


    -- talk about overconfidence --


    Splash around the waves has also been a source of inspiration. I wrote a ballad after being stung by some jellyfish too. People thought it was about break up, but it was really about the jellyfish attack.


    Not that I am suggesting getting stung by jellyfish, but yea.

  • If you have deadlines, walking away is sometimes not an option. If you don’t, do as other suggested and take a break.


    If you do have deadlines, I’d suggest:
    1) listen to some inspiring music. Could be in the genre you’re writing in, doesn’t have to be


    2) before you even randomly strum the Guitar looking for a tune, try and mentally create something. This is harder than it sounds. When you have a riff or progression in your head, internalize it (i.e. remember it well enough not to forget it). Then, try playing it on the guitar. This might take some tries.


    Now, it is possible you stumble on something else altogether and think this is cool. Well done! But make a note of it/record it, then go back to wrestling with your original riff. If you are doing this right, it will sound as magnificent as it did in your head.


    3) rather than focusing on writing with a single instrument, write with other instruments as well. This could be just using midi on your drum track. Or laying down a bass line using the octaves on your Kemper. By shifting the focus from your main instrument, you are likely to create songs in styles you didn’t know you had in you.



    I hope that helps. I used to be very handy in helping people write catchy tunes a long time ago. If you have a friend who might have good ideas, involve him in the creative process and push the boundaries.


    Above all, have fun. Don’t try and don’t be unhappy (though unhappy is a legitimate way to write as well, so just be in the right frame of mind).

  • hey @mnewse614, I know we are all different but it seems horrible for me to move to a computer room and sit down to compose songs. I mean, it looks to me as a forced process and I bet I would be gripped in that room. What works for me is to catch up melodies as they go in my mind and this can be anytime and, more often, when I don't expect it. If only I had captured 1% of what I play in my mind in the middle of the nights.
    whatever works for you is good, YMMV, but you may consider escaping from your room as many advised
    trio+ is a cool jamming tool, I sold mine cause that's wires in the living room, I don't have enough space at home for a music room. by the way, I find myself much more creative when playing unplugged, either acoustic or electric. I guess my brain does not focusses on the sound and I let go more easily.
    cheers

  • for now, just play.

    This is the key! I went to a Solid State Logic seminar a few years back on creativity and workflow. One of the big claims they made was that you use up a different part of the brain when looking at screens at the same time as coordinating with your hands on a mouse and keyboard. This hampers the creative part of your brain. Of course, you can do both at once, but the more energy you put in to one, the more you take from the other. In practice, I found it made perfect sense. It's kind of the same thing as mixing with a mouse, keyboard and spectrum analyser as opposed to a mixing console with knobs, faders and just your ears. Having something tactile in front of you that you can use a fraction of brain function on to turn as opposed to having to use hand-eye coordination and visual feedback... Haha, sounds like I'm arguing for/against a KPA editor! :S;)


    Creativity also breeds creativity. If you really are in a hole, do something else creative. It can be as simple as reorganising your sock drawer in order of colour, or trying to cook something you never have before. Take a camera out on a walk and snap anything that's interesting to you. Paint a picture, whittle a stick. Write your mum a real letter. Anything to get the flow started. Someone said about taking a walk. This is really good advice, though most scoff at the idea. 2-3 times a week, take a 30-minute stroll alone. Don't take your headphones, just stroll and let your mind wander, too. Even though the start and end points may be the same, try to take a different route each time. You'd be surprised how active your brain becomes. Ideas tend to spring out of nowhere for me when I do this. It's handy to have a recording function on your phone ;)


    PS I can thank Julia Cameron for the advice that has kept me going.

  • do some kind of physical work.

    but thats really the absolute last resort !
    personally i like to try writing with a different instrument which i cant play very well ( and there are plenty ! ) such as keyboard/synth , trouble with writing on guitar is that you kind of know in advance where things are gonna go.
    if i have trouble with lyrics then sometimes the random cut and paste technique can help, just throw down a shit load of ideas without really thinking too hard, then mix and match later..

  • One thing I've done with good success is hum something cool into a Mic and then to my daw. Do overdubs ,beat box it, hum melodies. Whatever. Then go back and try to mimic that on guitar. Forces your brain to rewire itself to get your humming sounding cool. I've done that on a few of my songs

  • Things I do:


    1) Don't be a critic until after a song is written. During writing, it's whatever comes out. If nothing comes out, move to another part of the studio work.
    2) Other part can be... grabbing an older song and remixing it with my newer experience and toys. Learn to be the engineer.
    3) Other part can be... making or grabbing a quick demo and listen to it in the car. See what needs fixing over a few days on the way to work and back.
    Some times it's a poor work in the lyric. Sometimes its a poorly sung part, how do I sing it better (change how I form the sound, change the word, change the melody to an easier part of my range) Sometimes it's a bad chord choice for the story-line. See what other chord changes can work there (sometimes it's just a variation of nearby chord)
    4) To build interest I make sure the LAST thing I do before sleeping is to listen to music or play music. Then my mind mulls over it during the night. Keep a recorder handy in case you get some motiffs of ditty's.
    5) During the day, work on something hard. Like how to harmonize, transpose, remember certain chord sequences, visualize the circle of 4th/5ths. Your mind likes problems to solve. Compared to theory, making music is more fun. But if you aren't making music, this theory learning part can give you tools to fix problems in your songs with a better understanding of music structure.
    6) Talk to your Muse. That one "fan" that listens to your music or says good things about it. Anticipate how THEY will want to hear your next work.
    7) Taking a break isn't a bad thing. Sometimes you need a break. Mine sometimes go for 6 months! But this isn't my profession. You can do that for a hobby.
    8).Play your instrument when you otherwise would "snack". This way you avoid calories and get some chops out of it. Sometimes you come up with a dirge that can become a song!
    9) Play some strange drum loops and see what motifs you come up with on the guitar. Some of these can be turned into a future song. Great songs have awesomely simple but rockin' motifs.
    10) Ask someone for their poem and tell them you'll try to set it to music. Working on someone else's words makes for some interesting music. Maybe not your best work, but it gets the juices flowing. IF you have written your own poetry, look for ones with good iambic pentameter and squish it into a song. As the programmers say: Reuse, reuse, reuse!
    11) Take away all pressure. Your next song doesn't have to be better than the past. It doesn't have to be done on time. It doesn't even have to be a song in the traditional sense. No chorus? Dylan did verse 1, verse 2 all the time. Snippets can be stitched together. A snippet is a great thing to write.
    12) Organize your songs. Put them into labelled folders. If you have labelled folders, digitalize them and put them on dropbox. That is, not writing? Then organize the studio, learn some more engineering skills, fix what's wrong with your studio. Maybe you need to finally do that acoustic treatment you've been putting off forever? haha
    13) Listen to new stuff and clean your studio. Label your cables while hearing music others told you they like. Even if you don't like it. Work to it. Your brain will soak up musicality

  • I'm not sure where I picked up this trick, but I read or saw it somewhere. Basically you sit down with the intention of writing a song in whatever time frame you can. Then you get to work. By the end of that hour or two you better have a song. Even if it sucks. Sometimes you can get at least a cool structure going from that. Sometimes only 1 section is worth pursuing, but if you do this day in and day out, you will get out of your rut. Added benefit is that you're practicing your songwriting skills. I think some of us on here focus too heavily on the shred side of things and ignore the fact that shred is boring if you can't incorporate it into a cool tune with a hook. At least for me that's the case. I can shred, but I even I bore myself when my fingers fly and I am not doing it over a cool rhythm

  • I avoid my comfort zone to the point I'm not good at any style! Jaming with a good drummer is the best for me.
    That push and pull you get is where inspiration comes from I believe. There's a song in every guitar so I need a few.
    Now Drumbo gets a bit confused trying to figure out where I'm going but his instincts always kicks in.
    Change up everything you normally work with and let the sound tell you what it wants to do.
    These 2 ideas came out of the air after 2 passes then I hit record. Kemper makes it possible to try diverse textures. 8)

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  • I agree with this , I won't ever start working a song without a good drum pattern , it's almost impossible for me to start from the guitar , I need a fucking groove ;)


    then the guitar parts come in , chord changes, mood changes, breaks . once this is set up , I will add some pads ( guitar, synth, vox ) to enhance the harmonies. Next is the bass ( often done in 10 minutes ). Once this structure is in place , the remaining is easy , fills , leads , background licks ...


    and yes, some hard rocks in life will always help to fight frustration by transforming these bad moods in great music, and cure you BTW.

  • I just chased some pussy and grabbed some beer now i dont have writers block...am i a bad person ? :D
    I just want to thank all the posters, i thought brain herbs were the key but you guys fill in the Holistic gap ;)
    ps that is a true story :P:D


    Ash

    Have a beer and don't sneer. -CJ. Two non powered Kempers -Two mission stereo FRFR Cabs - Ditto X4 -TC electronic Mimiq.

  • I just chased some pussy and grabbed some beer now i dont have writers block...am i a bad person ? :D
    I just want to thank all the posters, i thought brain herbs were the key but you guys fill in the Holistic gap ;)
    ps that is a true story :P:D


    Ash

    Just scrap my concept, I gotta go with Ash on this one for sure! 8)