One of the biggest problems in the creative arts is the feeling that there’s “a way to do it.” At least, you’ve always done it that way. When it comes to songwriting, you may be stuck in a rut that comes from writing the same way every time. “Chord Progression Formulas” show you quick and […]
If you find that you just can’t finish any song you start these days, give yourself a break from writing before the frustrations get too deep. It’s often a good time to involve yourself in music, but from a completely different angle. If most of the music you write comes about by playing around with […]
If you’re a bit new to songwriting, there’s probably at least three things you’ve noticed already: Your first few songs may have come together quickly, and this is exciting. Your next few songs took hard work, and this is discouraging. Today, you don’t even know where to start. And because you don’t know where to start, […]
There’s nothing quite as intimidating as a blank page when it comes to writing songs. A blank page means that you’ve been unable to get anything working, and that’s a recipe for writer’s block. A blank page, though, doesn’t necessarily mean that you came up with no ideas. Generally, it means that you came up […]
I recently read an interesting article written by Susan Reynolds, “Five Reasons You’re Experiencing Writer’s Block,” available at the Psychology Today website. In it, Reynolds make the case that writer’s block is a condition that we’ve created for ease of identification, and that it doesn’t actually exist. She starts this way: We’re going to go […]
One of the best ways to avoid writer’s block before it ever happens is to create a songwriting schedule. Scheduling your writing takes patience and discipline, but it keeps your mind feeling creative. One of the reasons you probably hate scheduling is that it forces you to write even when you don’t feel like it. […]
