Dealing with Writers Block

[JSynth]

So, over the last few months I feel as if I have been dealing with writers block.

Now, I am not talking about the lack of ideas. I have tons of song writing ideas. Its the song writing itself that has been bothering me. When I song-write I might be able to get the first verse and the chorus done, (or heck I might get the entire song done if I am that ambitious) but when I come back later to work on it, I find that I hate it.

It doesn't help when I open sound cloud and see all the new songs that my friends have been working on. Meanwhile, the my latest release was the EP I came out with in May. After that I have only posted two songs. One was a re-recording of my song Fade Away and the other was a 90 minute challenge.

This is really starting to frustrate me, because I have a goal of releasing an album in late November. I have been trying to get most of the writing and composing done this summer before school starts, but I only have one month left and almost nothing written.

Anyway, do you have any advice when it comes to feeling this way?

[itroitnyah]

I'm sorta at the block, I'm going to be writing vocals for my next song and I can't think of any, but I came up with the idea for the song when I originally thought up of a really cool vocal line that I originally planned on starting the song with, but after starting to watch a lot of the songwriting course videos from coursera.org, I decided that it should go at the end because it would make the song feel resolved, stable and complete. It's the rest of the vocals that I'm going to have trouble with, but for now I'm just watching the class videos and stuff.

I don't know, distract yourself. To be honest, I spend maybe 2 hours a day on music, either through watching tutorial/educational videos about music, or working on composition and mixing, and now vocal writing is also going to be on the list. The rest of the day is spent playing videogames, working or sleeping. And there have been times where I would be working on a song, mixing it to make it sound better or composing parts of it differently and I'd be way deep into it, and then I'd force myself to take a break. Working on music too much is a bad thing, but I also do my best to not get distracted from music too often or for too long, because working on music too little is a bad thing.

P.S. I want to start spending more time on music, and I have. But that's mostly because of the videos. But I want to spend more time with composition and sound design, so I will once I start composing and recording the vocals. How much time you decide is your "keystone" in music production per day, where you decide that you've made enough progress with music for the day, is really up to you.

[ChocolateChicken]

Ideas from Madeon:

Madeon: After being exposed to a song constantly for weeks, it's easy to start questioning it. I try to hang on to the flash of excitement and energy i felt when i had that first burst of inspiration for that track.

Question: hey madeon, any tips for someone who has trouble sitting down on a daily basis and devoting x amount of time to working on new music?
Madeon: My observation is that it can be very unproductive to force yourself to make music. You have to find the conditions that get you inspired and start producing when it feels right. Once the process is started, it's easy to get lost in it for hours.

Question: What do you do at times that your stuck/uninspired?
Madeon: I take a walk outside and listen to songs on shuffle, thinking about music until something clicks.

[Captain Ironhelm]

before you even start, writing down the procedure that will take your track from a blank slate to a finished product could help. have definite steps that you will take that will get you to the finish line. Put yourself on a self-imposed time-table. Systematically hit that checklist. Workflow structure is as important as the song's structure, if the time it takes create the music is a significant variable.

[smyl3r]

I have writers block a ton, and the simplest advice I can give you is TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Work with some different bpms... get out of your comfort zone and learn some new techniques. It will broaden your music and definitely make it easier for you to write songs.

[caprixsnare]

when in doubt try to make music from an obscure genre out of your skill set.

[JSynth]

Thanks guys. I think I am feeling better than I was last night. I was also able to get something written. (Sometimes you just need to vent.)

I also think I know how I am going to approach my next song.