Release Your Songwriting Creativity
You’ve heard that songwriting is one part inspiration and one part perspiration. We would like to help with both - motivating you to put in the time and effort along with stimulating the creative juices that linger and germinate inside each of us just waiting for an outlet.
Let’s begin with inspiration.
Are you creating margin (down time) in your life that your mind actually has space to think? Most of us live such a hectic life and allow ourselves to constantly be bombarded by visual and aural stimuli that our brains never get the chance to create. Let me suggest a few steps to help release your songwriting creativity.
- Turn off the TV! - You don’t need to throw it away but I find this to be a huge time waste that can consume all my mental creativity. Although seemingly relaxing and sometimes informational, it’s constant barrage of stimuli is a shunt to your creativity.
- Get out of the house. Grab a pencil & pocketpad and take a walk in the park, lie in the grass, hike to a rocky outcrop - you get the idea. Reflect, meditate and should an idea come - write it down but don’t sweat it if it doesn’t. You’re recharging the batteries - inspiration will happen in it’s own time.
- Get to know some new people. Not just their name in passing, but spend time with someone - let them tell you their story(ies). You’ll be amazed at the broadening of your world view that’s available by letting someone’s life provide input into yours.
- Really Look and Listen. So much of life just passes us by. Do what I call ‘deep listening’ where you listen past the obvious and try to hear the intricate details under the wind noise, traffic, etc. You’ll be amazed at the sounds lying beneath the surface. The same applies to looking. Notice how colors contrast and complement each other, subtle shadings and textures, etc. Allow architecture, people, nature, etc. to provide songwriting inspiration.
Now on to perspiration.
You need to set aside time and write. Write something every day. I love Jonathan Coulton’s “Thing A Week” experiment where he committed to writing and recording a song every week. I love to listen to his songs and the lyrical content derived from such an eclectic mix of input. I’m speculating that the pressure of finding inspiration for another song this week forced him to draw from areas that were outside the ‘norm’. It’s amazing how the process of creating breeds additional creativity.
Expand your vocabulary. Read a thesaurus or subscribe to a ‘word of the day’ site to expand the pallet you have to work from. Just like a painter, the more colors you have to work from the more interesting the finished product will be.
Releasing your songwriting creativity is not easy nor will it happen just by wishing. Nor is it an impossible task - it’s all a matter of the priorities you set.
There’s never a better day than today to get started…
