Firstly, I have ideas for songs, great ideas, awesome ideas. I start to put them down on paper...and I just can't finish it off. I can't translate my thoughts onto paper for some reason and I end up just forgeting about finishing it cause I can't cap it off.
Any advice? Should I just save these songs and come back to them later?
It's not that I try too hard. I tried writing a 'fun song' about my mom earlier today, poking fun at some of the funny things she does, using some common phrases she uses. But I couldn't even do that. It'd be something some people could relate to, with their moms, ya know? But I just can't put it on paper.
So basically, I'm stumped. I have a major case of writers block.
Hi Kevin
You actually answered your own question mate ..
Should I just save these songs and come back to them at a later date ?
Yes ....is the simple answer ...
I started with a school book , now its' this huge file with ideas on bits of paper , old bank statements with lyrics on , pages from a telephone book ..
Lots of others as well , every time I enter SSG and see what the theme is I go through it and see what I have , I usually end up finding one that I like and end up trying to finish it ...Thus meaning my SSG doesn't get done ...
Monday is my day I sit down and look at what SSG has to offer , Friday I am usually still trying to find inspiration for that theme ...
Don't ever throw ideas away , you could always Pm them to me :lol: :lol: :lol: But don't disguard them ...
Hope that helps mate
Trevor
Here is to you as good as you are
And here is to me as bad as I am
As good as you are and as bad as I am
I'm as good as you are as bad as I am
Hi Kevin,
I would second BR's advice. Keep a notebook. And probably most importantly, quit telling yourself you can't do it. In the first three sentences of your post, you say "can't" three times. No wonder it isn't coming together.
Also, and some around here will disagree with this, -- don't expect to sit down and write a finished, polished song start to finish in the space of 10 minutes. Sure, it happens like that once in a while for some folks, but most of the time when someone says, "Dude, I like, totally cranked this out in 10 minutes" -- it sounds like it. Writing is an iterative process. You write a rough draft, proof read it, change it, get others to proof read it, listen to the suggestions that come back, tweak it some more, ... until you have a good song.
But most of all, quit psych-ing yourself out.
-- Scratch 8)
"...if heartaches were commercials, we'd all be on TV" -- John Prine
42
Ditto the previous replies. Replace "can't" with "haven't yet", get a big sturdy notebook and off you go. Every time you get stuck, start something new. If something's stuck you sometimes have to forget it and come back to it afresh before you can work out what's wrong, and what will fix or progress it. For me at least, starting something else speeds that up.
I have a notebook that's over 10 years old, full of little bits and bobs. Just recently I had some chords I liked and couldn't come up with lyrics that fitted the mood. A few days later I was flicking through the book and stumbled across one of the really early songs. I've always loved the lyrics but never liked the way the song went (too jangly & powerchordy, just didn't fit the mood of the lyrics, even though they fitted together musically). Guess what? The old lyrics and the new chords fit together as perfectly as I've ever managed, both musically and in terms of mood. The old jangly powerchords are still in there orphaned, and maybe one day will be something else.
10 year old plus lyrics that I've always liked and some new chords, and it's now my current favourite song, and I'm working on it here and there. ...and if it takes another 10 years to become a great song, so be it :)
Without being as long winded as the other guys, NEVER throw anything away....you'll need it someday to fill out a verse, or start a chorus....
Write down things you hear every day.....
There'll be a time you'll want to use them.....
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Oh and there's no such thing as "writer's block" - just a temporary failure to put what you're thinking about into coherent form....with sentences and rhymes....don't push it, it'll come when it's ready.....think POSITIVELY.....
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Without being as long winded as the other guys, NEVER throw anything away....you'll need it someday to fill out a verse, or start a chorus....
Write down things you hear every day.....
There'll be a time you'll want to use them.....
:D :D :D
Vic
This is the voice of experience... ' nuff said !!
