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Bombadil · Post by **Bombadil** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 2:19 pm

So, I have been in a long rut as far as song-writing (mostly lyrically) goes. I keep waiting for inspiration, but there doesn't seem to be any around right now. I keep thinking that I should just say 'feck it, sell your stuff, it's not doing you any good, anyways.' The worst thing about that is 'if only I have the latest and greatest, I'll be inspired to write my magnus opus.'

I think I have to alter my perspective. What's your experience with writer's block and the feeling of stagnation? How do you deal with it? Does grinding it out as a function of mere discipline yield anything good?

I need to know before I bother being disciplined......

Thanks!

Bombadil

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 2:29 pm

I think you know the answer is in your question. Waiting for inspiration is a form of being undisciplined.
I have this technology because I have ideas. All the time, I can't do some things, have a day job, because I'm occupied.

I'm not blocked, I go to work and things happen. It isn't always the same flow... Some of the things are harder to work on and some of the ideas don't quite materialize, but what happened was an idea that had more preparation back there somewhere, and the initial notion was a dotted line path to it. Key word: Preparation.

I wouldn't arrive at 'grinding out', I like work. 'Selling', other people or externals as a factor, I don't do that, that's adding useless noise to the signal isn't it.

Lyrics for me though are a matter of irritation = inspiration. I'm not interested in them for a while. I was more interested when I didn't have access to facilities to realize music. I wouldn't be one to manufacture them or have that as a job, that would suck for me.

Gamma-UT · Post by **Gamma-UT** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 2:51 pm

Bombadil wrote:I think I have to alter my perspective. What's your experience with writer's block and the feeling of stagnation? How do you deal with it? Does grinding it out as a function of mere discipline yield anything good?

I need to know before I bother being disciplined......

If you ever have to do something for a living, there are times where you simply have to grind it out. Grinding it out on a frequent basis makes you very good at something (for 'good' here, I mean effective, it may not mean something wonderful).

I don't think you'll find any composer, writer, painter, whatever of any note or genre who didn't plug away at stuff until it works, although they might throw away material at many different levels. In fact, getting it wrong can often help get things right. Make up a bad melody. Can you work out why it's bad? What qualities does it have or not have that make it bad? Can you make changes that improve it? Do you need to switch things around? Are you missing possible options because you're painting inside the lines? Does it improve if you change harmonies around it and do those changes force alterations in the melody? All these decisions will help you think about how to get stuff done in the future.

Writer's block is a bit of a myth. Yes, people find it difficult to create at times but it's generally more that they've reached a plateau or a comfort point where they realise they're not knocking out stuff that's any good – or they've got a really bad hangover. So you have to step back and regroup a little. Divide the job into smaller, more easily management tasks and work out what's causing the block. Doing little experiments along the lines of the one above can help greatly, and that's pretty much the way the Oblique Strategies cards work, by focusing the mind on a small thing that's outside someone's normal practice to make them think differently about the process.

The_Hidden_Goose · Post by **The_Hidden_Goose** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 2:57 pm

It'll come back the very second you sell your stuff.

Sod's law.

ShawnG · Post by **ShawnG** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 3:22 pm

writing lyrics is hard. but Gamma-UT is on the right track. making yourself write something that you know sucks is very helpful, even if it's only because its easier to fix something that sucks, than it is to create something else from whole cloth. also suckiness is subjective. Robert Plant thought that Stairway to Heaven was crap, and it would never go anywhere. write a track, finish it, and write another.

also give yourself arbitrary time constraints (finish a track today, for example) and do it. sitting there endlessly tweaking a terrible 8 bar loop will dishearten you. get the terrible song done and on the shelf before you get tired of hearing it. flesh out the arrangement on your marker track before you even start, and fill it up.

every track isn't going to be a classic.

jsp1979 · Post by **jsp1979** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 3:39 pm

Ira Glass's comments on this topic are brilliant:

Bottom line: perspiration is the key

Bombadil · Post by **Bombadil** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 10:22 am

Thank you all for your replies. Yeah, I probably knew the answer to the question before I asked it. Just wondering how people move through this 'phase.'

There came a point, a while back, where I thought I'd said everything I needed to say. That, coupled with depression, kinda left me thinking 'Shit, I don't want to write, because it will just be self-indulgent, whiney, negative crap a la Roger Waters or Lennon in Plastic Ono Band. I want to write more positive stuff. I guess I'll have to wait until I am in a better state.' And while I have been in a better state many times, nothing comes out, because there's still a lot of detritus from my past that floats to the surface when I pick up a paper and pen.

I used to write constantly, always had a notebook around that I would pick up and just write away, usually at 3:00 AM, or some other time in the dead of night, which is something I can't do anymore.

Again, thanks!

Bombadil

fmr · Post by **fmr** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 10:39 am

Bombadil wrote:Thank you all for your replies. Yeah, I probably knew the answer to the question before I asked it. Just wondering how people move through this 'phase.'

There came a point, a while back, where I thought I'd said everything I needed to say. That, coupled with depression, kinda left me thinking 'Shit, I don't want to write, because it will just be self-indulgent, whiney, negative crap a la Roger Waters or Lennon in Plastic Ono Band. I want to write more positive stuff. I guess I'll have to wait until I am in a better state.' And while I have been in a better state many times, nothing comes out, because there's still a lot of detritus from my past that floats to the surface when I pick up a paper and pen.

I used to write constantly, always had a notebook around that I would pick up and just write away, usually at 3:00 AM, or some other time in the dead of night, which is something I can't do anymore.

Again, thanks!

Bombadil

I read something a while ago about inspiration, and about the way our brain works, and one advise I thnik works (it works for me, at least) is to not be there stuck trying to figure out what should be done.

So, I would advise you to work every day, trying to do something, even if it sucks (it will most of the time, probably, but that will preserve and develop your craftamnship, which is like the muscles - needs to be exercized to not get rusty).

When you feel you are stuck, just leave and go for a walk (i'm not talking figuratively, but literally - having the physic in some kind of moderate regular effort is important for the process). Don't worry - just let your brain flow freely. You'd be surprised as how ideas suddenly start flowing. Problem is usually those come at the most inconvenient times and places, therefore, try to keep at least a notebook (if it's lyrics) or a handheld recorder, to preserve the ideas.

The craftmanship will help you in develop them later.

About the negativism, usually unhappiness is much more a source of inspiration than happiness. But that isn't necessarily bad. Just write what you feel compelled to write. Sometimes you may have happier moments, and better things may flow. It's not like feelings can be programmed, I'm afraid. Either you feel it or you don't.

Oh, and keep listening to music, and broaden your horizons. The more you know, the better, IMO.

robogone · Post by **robogone** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 1:08 pm

Write when you're inspired and write when you're uninspired - you never know when it will strike.

RunBeerRun · Post by **RunBeerRun** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 1:18 pm

It is beyond words-that's why I joke a lot.

SODDI · Post by **SODDI** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 3:27 pm

"Art is mostly hard work." R. Crumb

fmr · Post by **fmr** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 3:51 pm

SODDI wrote:"Art is mostly hard work." R. Crumb

I think it was the great J S Bach that wrote his music was 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.

foosnark · Post by **foosnark** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 4:04 pm

For me, musical inspiration strikes when I'm noodling around with something already.

There's this idea that creative people are suddenly struck by a burning desire to drop everything and create something, and have to run to the piano/notepad/easel/lump of clay/pile of Lego/whatever and get it down now before it disappears. While occasionally ideas do appear that way for me, many times those ideas turn out to be bullshit, like the ones I have when I wake up from a dream. But when I'm already creating something I'll suddenly hear/see/feel/whatever the potential in a particular direction and go for it.

There's a lot to be said for varying your experiences, learning stuff that seemingly is unrelated, enjoying other peoples' art/music/movies/whatever, getting some exercise, changing your point of view etc. But you have to put the time in creating your own stuff or those experiences don't link up with anything.

AudioPhile2 · Post by **AudioPhile2** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 4:16 pm

Bombadil wrote:So, I have been in a long rut as far as song-writing (mostly lyrically) goes. I keep waiting for inspiration, but there doesn't seem to be any around right now. I keep thinking that I should just say 'feck it, sell your stuff, it's not doing you any good, anyways.' The worst thing about that is 'if only I have the latest and greatest, I'll be inspired to write my magnus opus.'

I think I have to alter my perspective. What's your experience with writer's block and the feeling of stagnation? How do you deal with it? Does grinding it out as a function of mere discipline yield anything good?

I need to know before I bother being disciplined......

Thanks!

Bombadil

Sorry to hear you're not feeling inspired lately. In my own experience, my best songs were not written on the grind, but kind of accidentally. I know it sounds woo-woo but that's how it is. I have to wait for inspiration, to put it more simply than perhaps it is. Sometimes it comes after I lose my job. Sometimes when I get a new one. Sometimes the stagnation lasts a long time.

That said, it's important for me to stay disciplined (or to just keep playing music for the sake of playing music everyday). It keeps my tools sharp for when the inspiration comes. Then I can more easily carve out a song. It also increases the chances that when inspiration (whatever that means) comes, an instrument will be in your hand.

You can also just write stuff even if it's not inspired, knowing that later on it might be a great template to work from when you are feeling more wind in your sails.

Hope that helps.

AudioPhile2 · Post by **AudioPhile2** » Tue Sep 23, 2014 4:19 pm

jancivil wrote:Some of the things are harder to work on and some of the ideas don't quite materialize, but what happened was an idea that had more preparation back there somewhere, and the initial notion was a dotted line path to it. Key word: Preparation.

Yup. Preparation is key. That means stay working through the dry spell.

Composition: Inspiration vs Perspiration?