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Have you found your songwriting to be lacking its spark lately? Maybe you feel like your words just aren’t sounding genuine. Or that one song is taking forever to write. For many lyricists, writer’s block is nothing new. Here are some tips to inspire you and help you overcome it.
1. Pull a Henry David Thoreau
Well, maybe you shouldn’t completely isolate yourself and hole up in the middle of the woods, but you get the point. Nature has inspired and influenced thousands of poems, works of art, movies, music, and more, and it can probably help inspire your next song. Turning off and disconnecting from our technological world may do some good for decluttering your brain. Find new spots in your area that you can relax in, and let the world move around you.
2. Keep a daily journal
You probably attempted to write in a journal when you were a child, so it can feel a bit juvenile at times. However, writing about your everyday thoughts, feelings, and stories can have potential. Those previous entries may be able provoke a voice, strike those heartstrings that you fought so hard to forget about, or you may even be able to piece them together to make a full set of lyrics.
3. Write outside of your own experiences
As a songwriter myself, I fell into the notion that all songs must come from my own experience, and if I don’t have an awful breakup, then I won’t write a great song. It took me some time to move away from this thought process. Songwriting doesn't have to be bound to only your own experiences. Take from your family’s stories, historical events, maybe even your friend's recent date. Just like two heads are better than one when writing chords, they can be just as important for stringing thoughts together. Every experience out there needs a voice, and it's okay if it's not always your own.
Get more songwriting tips:
- 5 Exercises to Write More Creative Lyrics
- When, How, and Why to Break the Rules of Songwriting
- 7 Easy Things You Can Do Right Now to Get Out of a Songwriting Rut
- How to Write Songs That Get Stuck in People's Heads
- How to Find Co-Writers
Rachel Bresnahan is an editorial intern at Sonicbids.
