Solutions to writer's block?
From the original Analog Industries archive. Some links and images from that era no longer resolve.
What do you guys do when you have writer’s block? I’m in the depths of one of the worst phases I’ve ever had. (Although it’s only two weeks old, so it’s not that bad, relative to some people I know.) I know that everyone has a different method for getting out of it. What’s yours?
41 comments
i just push through and write a really crappy song. i mean just embrace all that cheese (cuz that is my main problem as a write...).
so write that crappy song that is blocking....
i travel to a different city, sit in a bar surrounded by strangers, get lonely, then bummed, then drunk, and out comes the notepad.
or as they san in canada, 'oot comes the notepad'
(ps. it kinda helps that i don't have a choice about the travel to a different city part, which makes the 'sitting in a bar', 'getting bummed' and 'getting drunk' part particularily easy and free)
see? last night's drinks are still affecting me. That should read "as they "say" in Canada". Drunken slip, I'm in "San" Diego at the moment. Hungover.
I don't do anything. For me, it's not that I don't come up with anything, I've just grown tired of my own tricks and tastes. You can't have routine conversations with yourself without getting bored. I know that I'm not laying anything new on people here, but writer's block is just part of the deal. Rest assured that it'll lift, and you'll probably consider your next batch of work superior to previous efforts. Or, maybe it's time to develop a serious drinking habit?
Try to write song on different instrument, one you can't play as well. Or don't use any instrument at all, just use paper.
"Try to write song on different instrument, one you can't play as well."
That's actually a really good suggestion, and one that I forgot to include. I'm often impressed by the playing of novices. Well, not so much the playing, but the ideas.
Time to bust out the oblique strategies deck!
Whenever that happened to me, I would just go play a bunch of shows and get really sick of all the stuff I already had. Probably not very practical for you though.
Work backwards: start by writing down a bunch of song titles, then pick the one that, if you saw it in a track listing of a record you never heard before, you'd want to listen to. Then figure out what that sounds like.
Heh. Oblique Strategies is cool and all, but that ceased being useful for me like 10 years ago. As far as playing another instrument, that doesn't work for me because I'm reasonably adept at most everything. Certainly every instrument I own. (Jack of all trades, master of none, in the flesh.)
My normal course of action involves video games. There is a certain type of game (racing games, usually) that really makes my right brain kick in to gear. I guess I'll give that a whirl. I haven't yet tried the PS2 on my monster plasma; that should be entertaining in and of itself.
-CR
If i'm having trouble writing, i just work on small elements that i can plug into any song later... Synth presets, textures, beats, whatever.
I guess my philosophy is to just spend the same amount of time working every day regardless of what i work on. That way, even when i'm not my most inspired, i still get something useful done.
.lm.
high quality lysergic acid diethylamide
Yeah, if I wanted to write music that only I like.
-CR
Write a song about your love for Diamond Dave, publish it (with video) in your blog, until you are in touch with your inner desires you can not be free.
I agree with the 'working on small elements'
i use a different part of my brain when sample mining or whatever,
one thats more open to stumbling across ideas...
is it time to give the self critic a day off?
another game i like is to go to a second hand record shop & aim
to spend $20 & buy as many records as you can ie cheapy
throw aways.... then seriously go sample hunting on those!
there WILL be some inspiration there and quite possibly if they are
from a genre of music you dont usually listen to....
even if the sampel doesnt end up in the finished piece of music, it
can be enough to trigger a diretcion you might not otherwise take
& two quotes from a stash i have of such things:
' it is easier to enhance creativity by changing conditions in the
environment than by trying to make people think more creatively'
'a genuinely creative accomplishment is almost never the result of a
sudden insight but comes after years of work'
From a rockband angle I say: do a cover. (translate to serve your own situation)
Not one of your all time faves but still something you think is pretty good.
Stay very true to the original but as you go make notes (at least mental) on how you would have done things different. When you're done with the cover, do it again but this time change the key, tempo (maybe even time sig) and include every goddamn possible change you thought of. Blammo, there's your new original.
The scary and sad part about this concept is that I've seen people rely on it as their main approach. I insist on leaving it as a last resort.
With a 'broken ego' I sometimes take a trip to guitar center for 'inspiration', nothing makes my shit not stink like hearing aspiring pros giving it their best. But I guess this blog kinda serves that purpose for you...
That gets me from time to time, here's a couple of ideas:
change your schedule completly (assuming that you can, of course). If you wake at 8am start waking up at 12 or something. Just for a while. We think differently depending on the time we wake up and that may get your juices flowing. Of course it can mis-fire and you'll be all inspired to do a polka record.
get a new AND stupid instrument, like a melodica, a hang drum (panart drum - if you dont know what it is go to youtube ), jaw's harp, didgeridoo, anything that's basic. we are most inspired by limitation
same thing, but with your gear. use just one thing (or two) to do a track. probably it will be utterly crap, but it probably get an idea to get you going (last time i did that was with a spoon, a mic and a space echo - plooky dub i called it)
the eclipse is great for inspiration. u have one, u know what i'm talking about.
write music "against" other music, or use background noise. a fan, a motor or a shower. water works pretty great for me. talking about that: take a shower. it's relaxing and we all probably need it.
don't give crap. do nothing, see movies, etc. normal people call it vacation.
hand work - and i'm not talking bout that. do something manual and that makes you sweat. bricolage, gardening, painting (walls). the least creative thing you can do, the better.
don't go for me, it's voltaire words.
oh, and don't try sex, it has too many emotional things going to work.
sex.
try something new. whatever: knitting, piloting, cross-dressing, whatever makes you horny. normal people call it a hobby.
get yourself a non-musical non-creative present: like a massage, or a spa. it's a bit gay but you will actually feel better.
etc. just dont try to be "pass it". it will go away the day you actually stop thinking about it (or the reasons behind it).
if you absolutely HAVE to keep working (i wont advise it), limitation is the key. you ARE more creative when you have crappy and basic shit.
i tend to choose one of these when im block, it works pretty good.
I tend to start sampling all the things I've been meaning to sample, and programming all the synths I've been meaning to program patches for. Eventually I'll be in the middle of creating a sound and will feel compelled to write a song.
I can't really help with the music drought. Since I don't do it professionally, I'm in no hurry to get something completed, so I generally only complete things whenever I feel like it.
But as for work, writing words professionally, if I'm feeling blocked, I just force myself to push through. The easiest way for me to do that is to do a lot of short-form, bullet points, jump around from one half-formed idea to the next, until I get a reasonably useful framework, and then go back and repair the damage, which tends to ease the process of getting a final product, although ends up being a bit more work.
What I tend to do is try writing in a style I've never done before. You'd be surprised how much playing 18th century chorales helps when writing synth parts. Or I work on something that has nothing to do with creativity, like learning "Claire De Lune" or trying to pick apart the pieces of "In A Silent Way". Or, as other posters have said, I force myself to write even if it's bad, or I tidy up samples and soundbanks and create new ones for no specific purpose; I assume you've already tried both of those though.
seconding lsd vacation
1) Get yourself another creative outlet. If you're not getting anywhere musically, try painting or model-making... anything else that will occupy your mind creatively but take the pressure off, musically. I know it sounds kinda Marta Stewart, but it works.
2) i like to watch some crazy dope shit (preferably on video/DVD), that's so insane it gets me rarin' to go again. For some guys its Malmsteen(!?), for others its James Brown on Ed Sullivan. Here too, I stay out of the studio.
3) On deadline, I just push through and let the chips fall where the may. Why, even Diddy writes mediocre stuff once in a while!
BTW — If your block is only a couple of weeks old, don't worry. The Jagger/Richards one is 28 years long and counting.
Try composing in some random piece of software that you don't usually rely on. You'll learn a new piece of software (which can be somewhat motivating), and you'll have to think about new approaches to composing.
Doing a cover is a good way to at least get back into working on something. You may not end up with something useful, but dissecting a favorite track note by note gives a good amount of insight into why you like it in the first place.
hmm I would just play music with people I havn't played with for a while or find new ones. The inspiration of what other poeple do musicially is enough for me.
..by the way chris, thanx for the great job on the ribbon mics..
havn't got around to thank you earlier
Regards
Fredrik Carno
www.fredrikcarno.com
In my case creative blocks are really only an issue when it comes to art and design. Music's just a hobby for me, but the same techniques would probably apply.
The first thing I do is start applying limitations. Someone already mentioned using just one instrument, but you might also consider limits on style and form. Only write Funk-metal Klezmer music. Only write lyrics in odd poetic forms (e.g. Haiku), or voices (second person narrative). Limit the tools you use. Turn off the computer and record everything with a dictaphone.
Another thing I do is to work with something only loosely related to what I do. For example, lately I've been messing with a program called vvvv ( http://www.vvvv.org/tiki-index.php ). It's sort of like max/msp for video (but waaaay more useful than jitter from what I've seen), and while I've got no interest or experience in video/motion gfx., it allows you create visuals from sound. I've been messing with sound to make the images I want. You might try that. It's wierd what you end up hearing when the purpose isn't to make a good sound, but one that creates the visual you want.
All this 'try a new instrument, new program, wake up late," etc, etc, is in a word horseshit.
Your course of action is the most appropriate, relax play some video games, forget you even have a studio, burn a nice mix of tunes and spend the day driving the new posimobile.
You started making music because you love it, when your blocked it feels like a job that you have to do. So just step away and forget about it.
As usual, Dr. Deacon pretty much hits the nail on the head, there.
-CR
My assumption (and possibly that of some others who posted) is that Chris was looking for suggestions above and beyond just stepping back. In my experience, any person who works in a creative job and doesn't know to take a step back every now and then (whether they are blocked or not, but especially then) is a person who needs to find a new job.
Shit, they teach you that in grade-school art classes. Then again, it does seem to be something people forget.
The point being I've stepped back for a week and a half. I know myself enough to know when it ain't comin'. But usually it comes after a couple days.
I need some new gear, and that's a fact. Anyone selling a 606? Or an MS10? Or both?
-CR
It's funny that you say you need new gear, as it seems to me that new gear automatically imposes some of those limitations I was talking about earlier. You get new gear and naturally you spend alot of time working with just that new gear (maybe one or two supplementary things) so that you can learn it, and justify it's purchase.
In the end it all accomplishes the same thing. Oh well.
I suggest hitting the pawn shops. Buy something weird and crap-tacular.
Learn it? Why the hell would I want to learn it? The only time an instrument is inspirational is when you don't know it. On top of that, there ain't a lot of learning involved for a 606 or MS10.
-CR
For me, it's doing a whole lot of busy work in the studio. One of the great things with music production is it is both the creative and the mechanical and there is seldom a shortage of the later. If you're a prose writer with a block there's little you can do but suffer through it; what, you're going to clean your typewriter or back up your Word documents? - that ought to take five minutes. But as others point out, there are always synths to sample, patches to organize, drum loops; remix those tracks that you put aside for later. Fortunately, I have folders full of bits and pieces of ideas that never went anywhere. I can always go through these and see if there are any possible gems.
Of course, it helps that most of my stuff is half finished.
I used to use writer's block as an excuse to buy more gear. But I've found that the more gear I have, the harder it is for me to write.
I keep a notebook of compositional "recipes" - concepts that I want to try. I keep it with me whenever I know I'll have some time to kill and listen to music (espec. commuting, traveling).
When I have writer's block, I open the notebook and leaf through the "recipes" until I find one that grabs me.
Chick Corea's book on composing describes music as playing games. Getting out of writers block is simply a matter of changing the rules of the game to a set that intrigues you. Challenging yourself with severe restrictions is one approach. E.g. is it possible to write a listenable tune chord-melody tune on my ukelele which is missing a string? What would Autumn Leaves sounds like if I played the bass part on an accordian? etc.
slightly off-topic but related to something you mentioned earlier chris: if you're playing games on your new plasma, just be careful of how long you play them - screen burn is a big issue; especially with racing games and the like where you'd have a speedo/rev counter permanently in the right hand corner, for example...
just thought i'd warn in case you weren't aware :-)
on topic - i usually just buy a load of cds and listen to them as many times as possible over a week or two and not pick up any instruments or attempt to make any music of my own. you'll often find that you will have 'absorbed' some of the new music and it may make it's way into a new tune - particularly any interesting rhythms that you may have heard.
Unplug, grab a shitty harmonica and head out to the mountains and enjoy a nice day ... that OR sit back and watch some Pink Floyd - Live at Pompeii. There's some inspiration.
two things:
1 just write something and keep pounding away till it sucks less
2 play with my cat. I know I'll end up dancing him and that leads to beat making &&|| music.
The Beatles got ideas to new songs by playing instruments they never played before or were unfamiliar with.
And of course my favorite way and one of the easiest- alternate tunings on guitar.
You've got to let the writer's block get to you. I mean really eat away at your soul. Let it affect your work habits, eating habits, sexual appetite, everything. Agonize over your lack of creativity until people don't even like to be around you. If possible, let it get to the pont where you start to experience some major loss. For example: your car, your house, your wife,or an appendage. If you can, let it lead to some sort of chemical dependency - alcohol and opiates are perennial favorites, but don't discount the effectiveness of inhalants. You need to let the writers block consume you until you're little more than the transparent husk of what used to resemble a man.
Then, right when it gets to the point where you feel that you don't even deserve the bittersweet release of death, immediately start composing! It's important that you promptly detect when you reach this point, if you wait even a heartbeat too long you could fall into a bottomless pit of dispair from which you may never return. Provided that doesn't happen: bam. Instant magnum opus, guaranteed.
At least, I'm pretty sure that's how it works. It's one of those things where it's easy to forget to carry a zero and then you're off by an order of magnitude. But double-checking the work would be a pain in the ass (it's really technical and science-y), so I say just go for it and see how it turns out.
sulk.
pout.
play Tetris.
be crabby.
listen to CDs and bemoan my total lack of musicianship.
stare out the window.
play Moon Patrol.
stare at my gear and consider selling all of it since there's simply no point in having it around.
slip towards depression.
go for a walk.
play HL2.
make some new synth patches.
sulk more.
write code instead.
try again another day.
Actually, compared to your productivity, I exist in a permanent state of writer's block.
--Adam
You might want to try pickup up a book about fiction writing. I have read a lot of writers advice recently and found that writers tackle many issues that are relevant to musicians -- where do ideas come from, how to edit and revise, how to know when you're finished, how to get perspective on your work, how to create a regular working routine for yourself, etc.
For obvious reasons there has been a ton written on the topic of writing compared to similar self-help for musicians. I think of all the arts, writing is the area where craft and process has been the most thouroughly analyzed and then communicated to others in a useful way. Musicians have their own thoughts and theories about what we do but I think for the most part we're terrible at explaining our ideas to each other.
...or maybe your just becoming too corporate and domesticated. hehehe. Remember the tour bus days!! Woohoo!!! Perhaps a new brand of tequila and fresh hookers are in order...
New gear usually inspires :)
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