by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website:
When your musical ideas dry up, it’s like a bad itch that doesn’t seem to respond to scratching. And the drought can last for months or longer. Some advocate forcing yourself to write even if you don’t feel like it. Does that work?
Yes, even if you don’t feel like it’s working, it’s usually working. Forcing yourself into a creative mode will feel like one of the most uncreative things you can do, but it really does work.
One of the biggest causes of writer’s block is the lack of a regular writing schedule. The creative brain needs to be regularly tasked and trained, in much the same way that an athelete’s body needs to be repeatedly exercised. Without that constant training, the athelete feels clumsy, tired, uncoordinated and unresponsive. The brain is no different. It needs to be consistently honed and challenged. It’s part of the musician’s discipline.
The exciting payoff for the disciplined musician is that bouts of writer’s block become far less frequent. For every song written, the songwriter employs art – the creative juice that allows you to come up with musical ideas out of thin air. The songwriter also uses craft – the technical know-how that amounts to knowledge of how good songs work. It is the balance of these two forces that creates the song.
Every musician will experience periods of time where musical ideas seem to dry up, or where those snippets of lyric, melody, chord progression, etc., just don’t seem to feel inspired. But at those times, the good songwriter will defer to his/her craft. In general, technical know-how doesn’t require inspiration, and is far less affected by writer’s block. It is very possible to develop a good song based on technical rather than musical abilities. And this kind of work often creates inspiration.
So the answer is to work. And to work regularly. That regular writing schedule will keep your brain engaged and functioning, and honing your craft. But what do you work on, if the ideas don’t seem to be there?
Challenge yourself with very small writing projects. My songwriting lessons describe many such activities that can be fun, challengingand stimulating. These activities are short and undemanding, just the sort of thing your brain needs at times when writer’s block has you in its grip. But the key is to do them regularly.
And you’ll find that the exercises themselves start to increase the flow of your musical ideas, and will help you to feel creative and will keep bouts of writer’s block to a minimum. Don’t give in to the drought! Defeat it with regular mental exercise. In many ways, writing a song is like running a marathon. And regular exercise is necessary for both activities.