Songwriters – even the most accomplished and prolific ones – fight the battle against writer’s block regularly. The truth is, you can never fully get rid of it. As long as you continue writing songs, you will find yourself feeling uninspired or creatively drained at times. The key is to equip yourself with the techniques and tools that can get your creative juices flowing. Continue reading as we talk about how you can combat musical writer’s block.
1. Try Something Different
Using the same songwriting process is going to result in similar-sounding songs, and this will surely end up with you getting bored. We usually don’t like to change the way we write as we’re too afraid of failure. However, if you really wish to combat musical writer’s block, you need to be willing to risk failing. For instance, you can start in an unfamiliar or unique way. The details don’t really matter as long as you do something different than usual.
2. Collaborate With Someone
Collaborating with someone you have never collaborated with before is an excellent way to overcome musical writer’s block. Working with a new person means new energy, new perspectives, and new ideas. Consider all collaborations to be entirely unique relationships. The newness of collaborating with a new person can make you think about what’s possible in music in exciting and different ways.
3. Avoid Distractions
Distractions can kill your creativity. These distractions can come in multiple forms, including external noises, social media, phone calls, etc. Here are some ways in which you can avoid distractions to stay creative:
- Disconnect the internet connection from your laptop
- Switch off your phone
- Set a designated time to work
4. Take a Break
Taking breaks regularly is essential for beating musical writer’s block. Being a serious songwriter, you would know how much work goes into creating music. You can’t just keep going, regardless of how much you love your work. If you are burnt out, take a break. It could be a few days, a month, or an entire year. Pressing the pause button lets you recharge your creative juices and come up with fresh ideas. And keep in mind, you have to live a deep life to write songs about. Thus, taking breaks can be beneficial to your music in numerous ways.
5. Journal
If you are having difficulty coming up with ideas for a story, poem, or song, try turning to a journal. You can write whatever comes to your mind without stopping or looking up an interesting journaling prompt online.
Doing this can help you discover ideas you didn’t consciously realize – it’s an excellent way to find new ideas for songs or bits of lyrics. It’s also an excellent habit to add to your life as it doubles as a self-care activity.
Last Few Words
Musical writer’s block is an annoying problem for artists. However, it doesn’t need to last forever. If you invest the time and effort and take breaks when you need to, you can get through difficult times and back to making music in no time.
Eric Dalius is The Executive Chairman of MuzicSwipe, a music and content discovery platform designed to maximize artist discovery and optimize fan relationships. Beyond his work at MuzicSwipe, he hosts the insightful weekly podcast “FULLSPEED,” engaging with entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds. Eric also contributes to education through the “Eric Dalius Foundation,” offering four scholarships for US students. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Entrepreneur.com.