Writers Block Please Help

G

[Goldfish]

New member
ok guys im new to this site, but i've been writing lyrics for awhile now. i have a small collection that began one day out of the blue when i picked up a pen and everything began to flow. now it seems for the last ....oh.... 3 months or so i haven't had the ability to transfer anything in my head onto a piece of paper. what i'm hoping is that some of you may have some suggestions for me that will help me get past this frustrating obstacle.

p.s. YES I KNOW I MAYBE COULD USE A RECORDABLE DEVICE BUT IM FLAT F******G BROKE.
 
First.
I'd like to welcome you to our small section of cyberspace.

Second.
Join the club. We all have our moments, whether it be days, or months, of lack of output.

Somethings I've learnt I'll pass on.

I know your broke, but as soon as your cash flow resumes, I'd recommend picking up, at the very least, a second hand cassette player that you can record on.
Tape every practice session you do. When you review the tape, take note of the inovative sections.

Carry a pad and pencil with you where ever you go. Don't be shy about pulling them out and writing down your fleeting thoughts or verse.
When you put them in your asenal of scraps, bits and pieces or what ever you call your ideas, you can tap that resevoir at sometime in the future.

Never throw away a song or any ideas. Keep everything, organize your collection for easy rumagings.

Write something, everyday. Anything. Writing songs is like writing a story or playing a musical instrument. You have to practice.

When an idea for a song comes to mind, set down and write out your ideas.
Example.

You have an itch to write about 'Hitchhiking'.

Start writing 'stuff' about it.

Hot sun, no water.
Cold and wet from the rain.
Cars don't stop.
Drivers devert their eyes.
My harmonica keeps me sane.

Stuff like that. Just as if you were going to write a story.
Then, you can take these ideas and piece them together.
Change a word, rearange some words, add words. What ever it takes to convey your thoughts.

Don't worry about song structure right off.
Dont' fret about a bridge.
Don't loose sleep about the chours not being right.
Don't think twice about setting that song aside and working on another.


Sometimes the mind, and I know mine does, works in spurts.
Practice and learn to utilize your spurts.

Don't give up.
Write/Practice, Write/Practice Write/Practice.
You'll only improve.

Hang around and others will add their thoughts.

Good luck Goldfish.
 
badgas

thank you for your input, i really appreciate your suggestions. i plan to take your advice as far as getting some sort of recordable device if it means i have to sell a kidney(theyre shot anyways j/k).

i guess another question i have is where the hell did my inspiration go?? everything used to inspire me; hate, beauty, love, etc....

but now it seems like im "comfortably numb" so to speak.

how do i go about shaking myself back to the world of conciousness?
 
Gold fish ,BG gave you good advice..If you feel cold and uninspired ,well write about that!Anything to get the juices flowin'.......

Something like ..


I cant seem to move myself.
I'm stuck..
Quicksand pullin' me down..
Drawn and quartered
Gettin' my truck..
Gonna pull up stakes and leave this town..

Bla Bla Bla.....

Well thats the Idea anyways ..Good luck

Don
 
"Where the hell did my inspiration go?"
Your asking the billion dollar question, Goldfish.
We all lose it at some point. Some of us get it back.
I've been continually working on writing songs now for about five years. I've been writing songs for about 35 years.

Again, it's my opinion, but I feel that writing songs is something you have to cultivate. Nurture.
Don't wait for the mood to strike you, Goldfish.
You may be waiting for a long time.

Like I said, write something every day whether you feel inspired or not.
You don't have to be inspired to write a song.
You don't have to be inspired to write a really good song.
Writing songs takes some skill, a certin amount of hard mental work to get the point across.

These are some of the things that song writers have to over come, and they do that by writing. Not waiting for the inspiration.

If I were inspired to do everything I do, I'd become a fat bloated mass on my couch.

Ya gotta grab the horns of the bull and do something with it.

I use to do all my song writing when I was inspired.
By the time I was forty five, I had about thrity songs that I felt were good enough to play in public.
About five years ago, I was talking to a gent and he told me what I told you.
Write every day. Anything. It all adds up.

Now I have two hundred forty one songs, complete.
I have fifty six songs in the working stages.
I spend time each day practicing my guitars and working on my songs. I take a day off now and then, but I dive right back in. I haven't been inspired to write a song in over twenty years.
I'm not gonna sit around and wait.
Nobody can.

Good luck Goldfish.
 
thank you both for your advice. i guess since it's just come to me naturally in the past i'm not sure how to go about it now. looks like i just have to , like you said BG "grab the horns of the bull".

i really appreciate the comments i've recieved, they have been very insightful.

please. anyone else who would like to add your 2 cents feel free. i would like to get as much advice as possible.

again thank you.
 
There is no such thing as "writer's block". What is usually described as writer's block is really just a lack of discipline, and is usually excused as a "lack of inspiration". Buffalo Bullshit.
Writing well is hard to do. If it wasn't, everyone would be a great writer. Don't fall into the "inspiration" trap! Learn to express your feelings in an interesting and melodic way, and be disciplined enough to finish what you've started.


Bob
 
You need a girlfriend. Eventually you will have more pain and frustration then you'll know what to do with. You'll have no choice but to write about it.
 
"You need a girlfriend. Eventually you will have more pain and frustration then you'll know what to do with. You'll have no choice but to write about it."

LMAO!!!!

:D :D :D :D :D
 
Tex that is SO FUNNY, yet sad because it's so damn true.

And BOB, that is an interesting perspective. I never really thought of it that way, but when it comes down to it I generally am pretty bad at finishing "projects" so to speak. I'm beginning to realize that i've reached the point where this is turning into more work than I had originally presumed it would be.

But, dedication and hard work never hurt anyone, right? I really love writing and it's not something I plan on giving up soon, so I guess i'll grab my gloves and the shovel....

Thanks for the tip. Everyone so far has been very encouraging.

BTW - I did actually squeeze something out last night.
https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43003
 
Hi Goldfish.

Ya know, I use to, and still am, kinda like you. I have a difficult time finishing a project. New ideas come along, new melodies, etc. It can get frustrating after a while.
Someone said, 'when you can't stand the song anymore, it's near completed'. There is a lot of fact in that sentence.

It takes a lot of work. Never expect to write down the words to a hit song in one setting.
That's what I use to do. Since I came here and begin listening to what other people do and the advice they give or the questions they ask, I'm rewritting most of my songs. Either for structure or lyrics or both.

Look at some of the songs that some artists record over and over. Clapton comes to mind, Layla.
When he played with the Dominos that song was killer.
Time went by and he reworked it into an acoustic song. Killer.
So, maybe a song is never complete. ~ shrugs ~

That's the only one I can think of right off hand, but there are hundreds of other songs.
Anyway, I'm running off at the fingers again.

It's hard work and your the one who the song depends on for completeness.
When you finish it, you'll know it, as the saying goes.

Good luck.
 
Goldfish,

When I can't write or feel like I've lost my inspiriation I just take it to mean that I need more *life*- I do something else for a little while and keep the music in the back of my mind.

Walk down a street you haven't walked down before, ask a stranger to recommend a good restraunt and go there, listen to the birds singing, go outside without shoes and socks on and splash in a mud puddle, look at all the old photos you can find, try a new recipe, etc.

If I don't have something interesting to write about, be it lyrics or journal writing, I get the scary feeling that I'm not really living my life. :eek: I'm letting stuff go by and not seeing it! Help! So the advice to write everyday is very good advice indeed- there is always something going on inside you or outside you that will tease a few words out.

Take care,
Chris
 
hey chris, thx for the advice bud. after reading your post i decided i would begin keeping a daily journal. i only have one entry, but man is it lengthy. it really helped me get alotta stuff off my mind and clear my head. ive been advised to do this in the past, but i never put any importance on it. i intend to keep this up and hopefully it will help me out alot. thanks again.
 
This has been covered many times before. If you want some more instant answers then search this forum via the search button or what I suggest you do as your new is to go to the bottom selection bars and choose from beginning (order, from). Like I said this has been covered many times and there have also been many good/informative threads on this songwriters fourm. However there haven't been that many threads in total (hence the approriatley titled thread 'were all a bunch of songwriters with nothing to say').

Welcome.
 
Writer's Block

Hi Goldfish,

Lots of good advice here---
Don't worry about trying to write the perfect killer tune--
It's the journey that's important--the second you decided
to join us crazy b*****ds and write you threw away the security
blanket of "doin' covers"...Congradulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sometimes tunes come by trying to write in genres you don't play in.Try this and have fun with it as an exercise---

Personal life can be a good place to start looking for subjects
but BE CAREFUL to try and describe your experiences with
some detachment or like me you'll end up verbally masturbating!
Ha!--got to use that line again..lol

Anyway welcome to this site--people are great here!
 
ive never had writers block nor do i understand it.
What you need to do is go over the edge. dont write about safe predictable things. the music and lyrics should be somthing that breaks new ground. somthing that you might be nervous to let others listen to because its so powerful.
dont be afraid of what people will think.

and just basically...go out and experience life. Do stuff that you would never think of.

for instance... just this past weekend I got up at 2am, got in my car along with a tape recorder, paper, a pencil, and my guitar, and drove for 1 hour without having any idea where I was going. Then I got out of the car after a while and walked to an open field off the highway. I was there till the sun came up just thinking of lyrics, riffs, chord progressions, etc. I ended up coming with alot of new original stuff. Just being in a new strange place can stir creativity out of you.
 
I think Buffalo Bob is correct - being good at anything requires extreme disipline. If you read about any of the great contemporary writers (Brill building, Tin Pan alley, etc) they all talk about writting every day no matter what.

Every good writer, musician, athlete, whatever forces themself to produce even when they don't feel like it.

You can't wait for inspiration, pick a subject and write about it. It may not always be good, but it will force you to produce and the more you produce the better you chances of coming up with something that is good.
 
Hey

Give this a try, date a girl for about a year or two and when she breaks up with you start drinking for about 6 months. This should make you feel pretty depressed. Pick up your guitar or sit in front of your keyboard. Start playing and singing , dont worry about not having any words to sing just mumble out some words. Suddenly you will mumble a couple words with a cool melody. Record the part you liked and start practicing that particular part. This could end up being a great verse or Hook in your song. Flow with your feelings !! Oh yea dont forget to have the Playboy channel on the TV.

Markmusicman
 
Hey Goldfish,
-Writers block is a sham. Your head just needs a little time to reload. Just keep writing every day. You will see that in a matter of time you will start to flow the way you are used to, but you will be even more capable of expressing yourself. Keep plugging.

-Word
 
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