There is a lot of material to work with here, but being that I was the catalyst for this topic, I’ll bite my tongue. As far as getting through creative blocks I don’t. I only write when I’m inspired and have the time. I don’t pay much attention to writer’s block because I don’t have time for it.
Love,
Clownpenis.fart
Yeah, we always want a quick payoff. We often can’t see which path leads to the payoff that we desire. So instead of choosing a path, any path, we make the choice of inaction. A better choice is to choose a path and follow it to it’s conclusion, or it’s “relative conclusion” (of course no path is decisively conclusive, except…maybe, death).
Exactly…You gotta explore the terrain on your journey. You can find new, exciting worlds on almost any ridiculous path.
Sweet. It’s available in the Kindle app thru Amazon.
I don’t often suffer from creative block. If anything, I suffer from creative surplus. Seriously.
What I suffer from is lack of musicianship, laziness, time restrictions.
When it does happen, generally immersing myself in other artistic areas helps - a really good arty movie, literature, art etc
Great point, I was thinking about adding something similar. Try to take an instrument you are not familiar with and make music on it. I find noodling around on a piano or toy keyboard gets me out of my guitar mindset and will sometimes spark a song or at least a chorus. For Emma, it might be a ukelele or a hurdy-gurdy or something more exotic since she plays a few instruments, but just breaking the instant connection to your usual instrument can clear the blockage.
yeah I like this idea…
funny, I have a bunch of instruments hanging around by the piano for the kids to play on and it’s so fun just making up wild jam sounds with them… we make up the weirdest songs that I always mean to try to record but get so caught up in the moment… hmmm,
I just remembered I once had an ‘ideas book’ with an exercise book I threw odd ideas down into and could pick up.
Hah… but… I just remembered the next bit to that… when I was in Blah Blocked mode, I looked at the ideas and thought they were just stoopid dumb things haha…
What I really like to have is upbeat people to throw ideas back and forth with. That’s one of the things that I really liked with the November songwriting thing here. Even though it was a small group of us, it felt lively and inspiring.
Playing the kazoo is always very fun silly!!! 
p.s.
never EVER the ukele though
I do have one but they make my teeth grind… I think it’s an allergy
I deleted that…??? There was a phrase in there that I thought was something you would catch. Oh well, I hope now I didn’t depress you. i try to make a joke out of everything and sometimes not thinking. I am going to back off posting for a while for sure.
sorry bud
You didn’t offend me, COME BACK DAMN IT!
A favourite song of mine has a line in it that says “The motion is its own reward”
The song is about a band being on the road, but the central idea is how momentum is a thing unto itself.
I find that applies in my case to songwriting. I don’t really get creative blocks as such - I just find it difficult to find the time to write and get the momentum going.
It’s like a journey - If you never take the car out of the garage, you’ll never go anywhere, but once you’re on the road, you’re free to visit anywhere you want. Once I set aside some time and make an intentional and deliberate effort, it just comes. Sure, it might feel forced at first, but once I’m on the journey “the motion is it’s own reward”, and one idea sparks another. Time is the issue.
… and then there’s the time you need to finish things…
That is most certainly a double entendre. Wow. I didn’t realize mental blockage would be so easy to make fun of, but I understand that it sucks. I just don’t have enough creative juice flashes compared to time to feel strained.
Nope, you seem to have totally misunderstood my post.
Nah, I wasn’t claiming it was your intent, I was saying it was the band’s intent. At least in my corrupt mind it was. I knew what you were saying. YOU were saying it’s easy to get creative whenever you have the time. The band is the one making double entendres.
No, I wasn’t saying that: I was saying that I have to deliberately put myself into creative mode - sometimes that takes a great deal of effort and feels uncomfortable - like a long road trip… But once I put myself in that situation, the results come…
Oh, and no… Sleezy, sly double-entendres are not Don Walker’s style - if he wants to say something describing that side of human nature, he generally says it very directly. If you knew the band’s back-catalogue of material, you’d understand that.
You are right on one count, though. You are clearly hearing things through the filter of your own proclivities.
My proclivities are telling me that’s some kind of blatant insult. But you’re a certified golden ear, so I won’t question you. I’ll just be here completely filtering out 300Hz on all my mixes per your suggestions to everyone.
Hmmm…
Well, no insult was intended - I you were insulted, then I apologise.
Just offering an opinion to the discussion based on my personal experiences that may relate to someone else. The key to this:
"I don’t really get creative blocks as such. "
“As such” is a qualifying statement - I then went on to qualify that creativity doesn’t always come easy.
Once again, Dillon I apologise if I insulted you - that wasn’t my intent.
Nah, I’m sorry. It’s not you, it’s these people that barely speak English running customer service asking me the same question ten times because I don’t understand what they’re saying, then asking if I’m sure about cancelling, then trying to offer me explanations as to why I shouldn’t. If I didn’t want to cancel I wouldn’t have called! RRGH! I’m pissed, time for me to take a time out.
@ColdRoomStudio
I was wondering whether this inspiration/perspiration thing might affect me in some way. But I don’t think so… it seems to be much more a time/energy thing where life gets in the way. I enjoyed the Houndog, not heard that for ages. wooh that harp was amazing…
That’s a good analogy. I agree completely.