The Difference Between Writer's Block And Lack Of Self-Confidence

[Moose]

Hello,

I'm an aspring songwriter/musician with a problem: I can't write!

I've been recording little snippets of possible songs or tunes for a couple of years, many of which sound promising but are so small it seems a very small spark - maybe to small they will all just burn out?

I have got a few which are more developed musically but I'm trying to put lyrics to them with difficulty.

It is so frustrating because I feel like I have all this creativity fire ready to burst but whenever I try and set it off, all that comes out is some awful, childish, immature mess of words or terrible tunes that I know if I heard them in third person I would snigger and turn away.

I am beginning to lose sight of that musical flare I used to be so excited about; I could imagine the 'aftermath' if you like, the genre and hopefully innovative ideas I had but now it seems all I can actually come up with is small bits of terribly average drivel. I couldn't even write a rubbish song with a normal, boring structure - can't even get that far!

Also, a lot of whats coming out of me at the moment is not the kinds of song I want eventually - just quiet and boring.

Am I going through writer's block? I don't feel I deserve this term as I don't yet consider myself a writer! The interesting thing is that I studied music A level where I had to write a song - yes I hated the end result - melody was weak and I didnt write the words myself, but the piano middle 8 was alright..

Im getting to the point where I'm beginning to not enjoy and even sometimes avoid music because all I think about is 'I couldn't even write that', but all I can and have ever seen myself doing is music. ARGH! Turning into bored fury! Haha

Sorry about the influx of negative waves but is this normal for a beginner songwriter? I'm 19 and starting to feel like if I can't produce anything decent now, Im not going to get to the heights of wonderful-ness that fellow young people like Paloma Faith, Muse in their early days and indeed any young, talented songwriter/musicians manage. Why can't I?!

[pboaz]

I'm no expert, but I would say the important thing for you to do is to just write, even if you're not impressing yourself.

Take one of your ideas and turn it into a finished song with intro, verses a chorus and a middle 8. The most basic pop song structure.

Then work out how to improve it, see if you can start to feel inspired. When you hit a wall, move onto the next most promising idea.

I believe that writing is a skill that can be improved through practice. Or at least that's what I'm hoping

Also, be realistic. Very few people have the ability of Jack White/Bob Dylan/Paul McCartney/insert name of your hero here. Aiming for that level from the word go is not realistic. Aim for as good as you can do then aim to improve. I think you should also be aiming to enjoy the process as much as you can. Be humble and don't be too hard on yourself. And who knows, you might suddenly surprise yourself?

I recently read that McCartney of of all people didn't really impress himself as a songwriter until he wrote And I Love Her.

Also don't be afraid to share your work here and take the crits. I've only been a member here for 2 weeks, but I find people to be very supportive of each others efforts.

Good luck!

[James Anderson]

try composing a way from your musical instrument having lots of little bits of music is a good thing sounds like your a rule maker and a rule breaker music is a language just like speaking stop playing and listning to other peoples music learnthe language have your own conversations not mimic others

[Darmin Deflern]

My advice is that any artist seldom is able to produce exactly whats in their head you need a huge amount of technical and knowledge tools to be able to come close allot of the time.

So like everything the best thing is to start simple. There are huge amount of really good songs that are simple but very effective.

So just play some basic chords that work together change it up for a chorus then back for some verses etc. Once you got that song record it and keep it even if you don't think its the finished article you can always come back and polish it add a nice middle 8 later etc.

If you get a good melody line together no matter bow basic the your rhythm is (or even no rhythm) if you have a melody you have a working song; that is a song you can work with.

Once you create this song you go onto the next and the next etc. You will find that your skills at laying down songs improve and you then have a body of work that you can always go back and perfect if you wish. Try not to throw everything away and keep at it.

Edited September 6, 2012 by Darmin Deflern

[nickamandote]

my advice is simple: don't give up! this happens to everyone, just keep writing

[MikeRobinson]

And don't expect a song to just pop-out like Venus on the half-shell, because that's not how creative writing of any sort actually works; or ever did. "Writing is rewriting." A good song idea probably won't come flowing out in finished-sequence; what does flow out will be a mix of good and not-so-good musical notions.

If you can, read Stephen King's book, On Writing. In an appendix, he gives the first and then his final draft of a short story. The first thing you notice about the first draft is that it is "unexceptional." Even from such a seasoned pro. The last draft is much tighter. But, even so, Stephen encourages you in his book to write a completely different version, your own, and even to send it to him. In other exercises, he spells out a typical scene ("divorced woman alone at night, hears a noise on the staircase, smells his after-shave ...") and then challenges you to turn it topsy-turvy. And, lo and behold, it works.

You gotta turn-off your schoolkid which says, "C'mon, what's the right answer?" (The same one that told you to keep your mouth shut in class to avoid embarrassment in case you might be "wrong.") There isn't a predefined "right answer." It doesn't exist. It's up to you.

You start out with a very abstract pure-creative act, pulling bits of music out of wherever-they-come-from, but then you get into a very different sort of creativity where the stuff you're starting with is there, on the page, and it's not gonna move or disappear. You're clipping things, moving them around, creatively adding new stuff around that structure, and so on. Just as creative but very different.

Edited October 30, 2012 by MikeRobinson

[john]

Question: Have you learnt how to write songs? Or did you just expect to be able to do it because you could play an instrument or write some pretty words?

It's a serious question. It's a very common misconception that somehow because you know what you like, or because you write poems or play an instrument that somehow intuitively you would be able to write songs. True, many writers can pen songs early in their musical career, but often it is because they have taken the same approach they took to learn an instrument to learn how to write songs. By that I mean they actually took the steps to observe the what's, where's and why's of songwriting.

No one becomes a good songwriter by blind stumbling. they learn the basics, they experiment and they learn. Somewhere along that journey it clicks.

Answer these questions (and you may well know the answers to some):

Do you know different song forms / structures and how they work?

Do you understand the functions of the different basic song blocks such as verse, chorus, refrain, bridge?

Do you understand the different types of song hooks?

Do you understand what makes a good hook?

Do you understand the difference between theme, message and vehicle?

Do you understand Rhyme Scheme and the options available? What about lyrical meter?

Do you understand what makes a good title?

How about how to write a lyric that makes listeners want to listen to the song? the same applies to melody.

Do you understand the essentials of chord progressions or melody composition?

I list these (and it is an incomplete list) not to dispirit, but to point out that there are things to learn. if someone studies songwriting and learns how to write a song (and all songwriters do on some level), why on earth do you beat yourself up thinking that it is a personal flaw or failing? if there is a failing it would be that perhaps you have an unrealistic expectation.

True you studied music, but that does not a songwriter make. It needs to be learnt with a similar level of detail and willingness to practice and experiment that you applied to learning an instrument. Some writers arrive with a natural aptitude, even then they need to study. Most need to apply discipline to learning.

In my experience, most classically trained musicians know little of composition. They tend to be spoon fed their music, but then their training is aimed at producing a musician, not a composer or lyrics writer. I should point out I too was classically trained, at least in some instruments that I play.

Learning the basic concepts of lyrics writing doesn't take too long. It's the practice in honing the skill that takes time. Like any instrument, the more you practice, the more you experiment, the more you critique the work of others, the more you exercise those songwriting skills, the faster your skill will improve.

If you are struggling with your own work, then critique the work of others. Learn exactly why a lyric or title or hook etc works. After all critique is about observation, analysis and solution finding all couched within discussion. It's a great way to improve your skills without necessarily writing your own. Ideally I would say do both. Keep an open mind. You won't just suddenly produce a masterpiece. What you do to begin with is... learn.

Hopefully this will be of help. Keep writing and experimenting.

Cheers

John

[Jonny Guillen]

crazy, i had a very similar experience. i am also relatively new at singing and such, and for my first year i wrote what i thought were decent tunes, and to this day i think they still are....and then i reached a point where i couldnt do it. and this "writers block" lasted nearly a year. i was doing ambient electronica stuff. and i just could NOT write any more good songs, lyrics were all wonky and i would have one good musical idea and then had no idea how to build on it. i understand your frustration. what i ended up doing was changing it up. i started with a different kind of genre, i went from ambient, to piano and vocals only. the occasional simple background guitar riff and bass just to fill it up. it was a big change, and i was back at spitting out songs like i used to. and now these days i've kinda combined the two genres.

now i'm not saying go change the genre you are trying to make, but maybe make it in a different way than you are used to. try different methods. think of a melody before you think of lyrics. just do the opposite of what you are used to doing? i don't know. i hope i helped a bit. and if not, i hope i gave you some comfort in knowing that you are NOT alone.

[M Theory]

Never judge anything you create. It is what it is, good or bad. When your writing a song don't focus on the final outcome, but try and be there in the moment with no expectations. It might surprise you when you stop thinking so much and just let things flow together on their own.

Creation is love, not conflict.

Keep your head up bro!