Drought Killers

[UhMe]

I'm almost positive every writer in the world has gone through this. The dreaded song drought.

 

Just kind of curious what your go to drought killers are?

 

 

Personally, I like to go for a drive.

 

Where I live, there are a lot of more or less forgotten back roads. They are long and quiet. You hardly ever see a soul on them. I like making a playlist of different music amd just drive for a hour or two. Usually at some point during the drive, an idea and the only thing left to do is try and hang on to it til I get home.

 

What about you guys?

 

 

[Michan]

A drive is always cool!

 

In my case any thing that distracts me works great for that. Now I don't have car... so the alternative is taking the bike and going around to a park or a temple. I live in a very rural area of Tokyo (yes, rural area + Tokyo work together! haha), and there is particularly a very nice Shintoist temple at about 1km of my place. It's full of big trees, like if you entered in a lost realm, and there's normally nobody around. So I like to go there and just walk around, or sit in between the trees and feel the breeze. Try to take frustration out of my mind.

 

Normally I come back home feeling as after a long rest!  And in the way back, if I start back thinking on music, something comes!

[zyzzyva]

I was going to say something, but I couldn't think of anything. 

[Peggy]

I've  always been afraid to put my mind there . ...  if you say there's a drought, there is a drought. 

 

[Odanada]

Sometimes it's fun to pick an old timey artist and write a (sometimes deliberately bad) song for them for any era/time period you choose. 

For example a 60s Tammy Wynette weeper. A corny 50s love song, a hippie flower power  anthem etc.

Using the vernacular or themes of that time period gives the song a bit of a research vibe that takes you away from having to create something "fresh" for you. The results are usually throwaway and more funny than actually good, but it can shake things up and get the juices flowing again. It's best to pick something outside your comfort zone lest you steer back into your usual ruts and stall out.

I once wrote (though it needs major polishing) an overblown, old timey, dramatic country weeper called "you failed me again" that became an in-joke around the house for a bit. If my wife did something inconsequential (left a cupboard door open) I'd dramatically wail  "you failed me again!" and we'd all laugh. The kids even picked up on it and it was a hoot before it was quickly forgotten (maybe it's a Canadian humour thing?) The point is that it was a harmless , fun exercise in craft -  and who knows knows what you'll find when you start turning over rocks?

[themistero]

I drive around looking for people walking the streets. I imagine who they are, or better yet bizarre stories of who they are and then write about their imaginary lives using bits of my real life. I use their fake lives to tell my story. Sometimes it might be a weird buildings that triggers the story telling. I mix real things, my memories and something I currently want to say and put it all in a blender.