Writer’s Block

I am a glutton for procrastination, and entering any phase of writer's block is an easy excuse for me to stop and walk away from a project for sometimes weeks or months on end. After quite a few years of composing music, I’ve found that writer's block only hits either before I’ve started writing or when I’m midway through a project I’m not enjoying. For projects that no longer spark joy, I can honestly say that walking away is the best option, for now at least. I’ve got a folder full of unfinished melodies and emotions that one day may come calling. I often go back to check on them to see if there is an idea in that ever-growing folder that sparks new interest in me. After all, music is an emotional response to something, and maybe at the time I started writing it, I just wasn’t fully realised in that emotion. Pretentious? Maybe. It’s art, and that can easily be categorised as a narcissistic and pretentious pursuit. But I digress.

How I overcome writer's block

Indulge in something not music-related.

It’s been said many times before, but walking away from a problem is often the best way of tackling it. I watch a lot of films. Good and bad. Trashy and epic. All sorts from the artistic and epic works of Christopher Nolan, to the easy watch (and sometimes trashy) products of Lifetime. Anything to take the mind away from the blank page.

The great thing about film is there is a plethora of creative and emotional content you can borrow for inspiration.

Try new starting points.

For me to start with an instrument other than the piano is a good option. This might seem obvious to some composers, but as somewhat of a pianist foremost, I often begin writing with the piano even if the piece doesn’t have piano in it in the end.

Writing music is all about tone. Different instruments are key to crafting the correct tone and mood for the piece I’m working on. We can over-qualify a piece of music based on melody, structure, form, and all the technical things that we base classical music on. But modern or contemporary classical/orchestral music for me is all about tone, and that comes from texture, mood, and movement.

Revisiting old work

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve a large folder of incomplete work. Sometimes reviewing what you’ve started before can jumpstart something new.

Remix and rework

If writer's block gets in the way of your enjoyment of creating, then I can suggest remaking or reworking an existing song or piece of music. When I was starting out, I entered lots of remix competitions. I didn’t enter for the win (my style often didn’t fit with what was wanted), but it provided some base building blocks that I could play around with and make my own. No longer staring at a blank page I could indulge in music making for fun.

In the same vein, trying to replicate music that you enjoy is a good way of entering the blank page with an idea that can take you off-piste and into your own creative path.

Whatever works for you is obviously the best option, but to find that out, you need to stop banging your head against the wall and give up every now and then.

Or as my mother would say…

“Go for a walk!”