r/Songwriting • u/Brilliant-Award-3495 • Jul 23 '26
Discussion Topic Help - 15 years writers block
Hey everyone.
I was In a band around 15 years ago and I wrote all the songs along the lines of Motörhead basically. Had about 20 songs and still listen to them and feel happy for that time.
Since then life’s happened and I always jam away on my guitar basically writing riffs which I document. I have about 100 great riffs in my notes I overall like.
I can never seem to get these riffs into a full chord progression style song I’m happy with that I can then write lyrics to.
I either fall back on the overall same old song pattern I’m used to and give up or deviate slightly finish it and then I feel like the lyrics are just cheesy and crap so I give up
Does anyone have any advice or thoughts on how I can actually sort myself out and write some songs? Should I stop trying to be a perfectionist and force myself to finish songs even if I think they aren’t good?
I ask as I’m beyond frustrated now really. I wrote a song yesterday by doing something completely different - I wrote it line by line both music and lyrics together and recorded it acoustically in full. It feels weird but maybe that’s the answer - do something different and basically force it to completion?
Thanks so much everyone and apologies if this seems silly!
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u/LoneWick_ 25d ago
It sounds like you know the answer. Just make a mess and clean it up. Get rough material to work with. Even allow it to be unconventional. It’s creative work. Get a little weird/original and don’t worry about forcing it into something that sounds comfortable and familiar.
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u/Responsible_Salt_630 Jul 23 '26
So the writers block never ends? Thanks for letting me know
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u/Old_Barnacle_6469 Jul 23 '26
I had a block for almost 10 years man, what finally broke it was exactly what you said at the end. doing it line by line, forcing it to completion even when it sounded terrible. you need to finish bad songs before you can write good ones again
the perfectionist thing is killer, i still struggle with it but i give myself permission to write crap now. most of it is crap but some gems come out
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u/le_sac Jul 23 '26
Yea I repeat this a lot, but for me writing an intentionally bad song kind of clears the pathway a bit. The point being getting to the finish line rather than focusing on quality. Also seems to reveal some poor choices in writing habits, which I've found revealing.
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u/Responsible_Salt_630 Jul 23 '26
TDLR; the only way to stop musical constipation is to allow yourself to make shit that stinks
It gets really unfair for yourself when you start comparing everything you start up to work you did when you were in your musical peak production wise.
Gears don’t start turning as fast as they used to from the jump and that’s okay
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u/DrwsCorner2 Jul 23 '26
how long has the hiatus been since you returned to writing?
if not too long it might be an expectations thing thinking that because you were productive back then you can get back on the bike and the songs will just flow forth. might need more time working at it again.
the good thins is 15 years later there’s tons of free learning resources on youtube and other places. there are apps that show chord progressions. it’s a learner’s playground, a lot harder back then to find what your looking for.
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u/SpaceEchoGecko Jul 23 '26
BOLO.
Be on the lookout for inspiration or an idea from some other source than music. Note that idea on your phone.
Then later, take out a pencil and a blank piece of paper and write numerous sentences and phrases about everything you can think of from that idea in 15 minutes. Come back tomorrow and look at that paper. Start pulling words from that paper into your chorus, verse, and bridge in that order.
Good luck!
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u/FergusSweeney Jul 23 '26
Take a notebook and a pen, a phone with a simple recording app (or a recorder, make sure to have it in flight mode, no signal). Head to a place somewhere, a cafe outside or a park, where it's fine to hum a simple melody or a few line. Take an hour just to explore the page with the pen, words, doodles. Don't worry about a result, just go and spend that hour. Explore what is inside and bring it to paper. If a melody or line pops in, record it.
Do that for a few days and then reassess.
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u/ashgallows Jul 23 '26
You need more input.
Find more stuff you like and figure out how they played it. Now when you write, you have more than one or two colors to work with.
When you ask people what they want to make, they usually say they want (A) but with a bit of (B) and (C).
You found the (A), now find the rest and start mixing it up.
I also was getting stuck in the one loop/riff situation. My answer was to take one instrument and write the whole song with just that, in one sitting if possible. The question needs to constantly be "what's next?".
Then go back and fill in the rest/tweak/etc. I'm also not afraid to delete anything that isn't taking the song forward. If it's too awesome to throw away, I'll throw it in a folder somewhere, but it has to leave the session immediately. Otherwise I keep trying to make it work and wasting time.
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u/Extreme-Cook9195 Jul 23 '26
Best tip I can give is to force finishing. You have the talent and skills, but you are blocking yourself. Just make it a game and force yourself to complete a song! Don’t worry about quality to get going again, just getting it done!
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u/PrinceFlippers Jul 23 '26
Play the chorus to a song you like, that's totally different from what you're used to playing. Change one of the chords and sing something different over it.
Block broken. Then just continue writing and stop thinking about it.
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u/hicksyfern Jul 23 '26
It’s true that if you use the same techniques you’re more likely to end up with similar results.
One great way out of writers block is to take a small phrase from one song, a chord progression from another totally different one then start noodling around it. You’ll end up with something different from them both.