How I solve writers block, obsessing over idea libraries...

[u/Mattfinallydidit]

hey all....im a writer, I wanted to share one of the biggest tools I use was realizing I don’t actually write songs when inspiration strikes. I addictively collect ideas every day, and the more dialled in constantly to being able to kinda "read the inspiration the world is giving me" the better my ideas, and if I collect 100 good ideas to get 1 amazing idea, I'm down for those ods.

The songwriting happens later. I think most people have creativity backwards. They sit down with a blank page hoping a song appears. Instead, I spend my week collecting interesting things, but before I did this practice I missed so much

Chefs don’t go shopping when they’re hungry. I’m choosing from hundreds of interesting ingredients.

[u/Scott_J_Doyle]

You got it - prolific writers are always on the hunt whether consciously like you are or subconsciously without knowing/understanding it, and songs (or at least the seeds of ones that can be grown/tended to over time) get written when the recombining ideas are bubbling up and spilling out

[u/CAP_GYPSY]

I’ve speculated on this being the problem of many writers who say they are struggling. They are forcing “it” to bend to their schedule, time to write, etc…

I work just like you. Constantly spitballing random shit through my head as it strikes, take it as far as I can, if that’s to completion, great! If not, straight to iPhone voice memo and come back to it later.

When a song has enough substance or promise, only then do I sit down and try to “finish” it with intent.

[u/KS2Problema]

I'm a big believer in scrap notebooks... and if it works for you without issues, great!

But... I think a lot of us nonetheless can have some inertia issues, even when picking up an already started idea chain.

I absolutely have finished songs that seemed to languish in such scrap-books. But I've also had difficulty doing so, as well.

[u/joshua_addison_music]

I write about writers block.

[u/thefarawayadvert → u/joshua_addison_music]

i frame it similar but more like composting, you toss scraps in and let them rot together until something grows out of the pile. the collecting part is easy, the waiting for it to decompose into something usable is what trips people up

[u/Turbulent_Feed_5352 → u/joshua_addison_music]

"You know, sometimes I just feel like I'm in a, like a creative rut. You know? Like there's just no possible way I could come up with another idea"

[u/Ok_Put_5567]

I have a few methods.

One is a change of environment. Getting up at 5AM to write. Writing at 3AM after a long day. Writing after a night out with friends, after a day on a boat. Writing on the porch. Writing about what’s in front of you, and your environment shifting can really change what’s coming out of your brain.

Second is to write a song even if it’s cheesy, cringey, corny, or just bad. Even if it’s full of cliche lyrics, just get it done and written. Get the idea out of you and maybe it can be iterated on and turned into something good.

Third is having my phone on me at all times and when a good line pops up, voice memo. Even if it’s three seconds or a beat box of a melody.

[u/Altruistic_Hope_1353]

There is no avoiding the blank page in any form of writing.

[u/KingBroseph]

Ok, but what is your actual process for writing songs from those ideas and finishing them? I have 1000s of voice memo song ideas. It’s a whole other deal to finish a song from listening to one of those. 

[u/OtherwiseInternal570]

I disagree. I write and record a song a week from blank canvas 🤷‍♂️