So let’s get stuck in and and talk about this idea of creative blocks, creative barriers and, and how we potentially can overcome those. So what we talking about today are a couple of things. So the first is just talking a little bit about what writer’s block is. then we’re looking at something I call the open zone versus the closed zone. the importance of play. how to turn the internal self critic off when you are starting to write or feeling like you wanna be creative, how to step outside your comfort zone a little bit.
The power of collaboration and limitations as a creative force for inspiration. And finally, a engineering inspiration. So what I mean by that is how to make yourself inspired out of nothing basically, which sounds like a strange thing, but, it is possible. And I wanna show you how I do it.
Firstly, I just wanna say that what I’m talking about today is not a replacement for inspiration. It’s perfectly fine to have those moments where you wait to be inspired, something happens naturally in your life and you end up writing a song about that. And there are those moments where suddenly out of nowhere, it just happens. What I’m talking about today is not a replacement for those moments. this is, these are some tools and some ideas that you can use to try and speed that process up so you can kind of, in a way like encourage it to occur.
some of the tips that I I say them might not be relevant to you in how you write, which is totally fine. and hopefully there’ll be some things here, but there may be a couple of things that don’t have any relevance to you because there’s one tip in particular where I’m using a DAW to show you how to conjure up ideas that might not be how you write. That’s fine. There’ll be other things hopefully in this talk that you can kind of relate to a little bit. these are basically things that have helped me write songs consistently over the years.
So, stuff that’s got me out of creative troughs and just got me writing basically. So hopefully you find some of it useful. So, the first question is, what is right? You know, what causes writer’s block and is it a real thing? so I have a problem with the term writer’s block it. It’s one of those phrases. I don’t actually think it helps.
doesn’t, doesn’t help anything. I I don’t think it’s actually a real thing personally. I think it’s, it portrays a situation, but it doesn’t tell us anything. So it’s a bit like saying, the reason I’m sleep deprived is because I’m not getting enough sleep. It’s, it’s, it’s, it’s not, doesn’t give you any reason to why it’s happening and how we solve it. And the question is, why and how do we get out of that? And getting out of that writer’s block or that area of block may be different for different people, but what it usually says to me is you are over familiar with the situation and how you’re writing and you’ve kind of, either that or you don’t really have the knowledge to put yourself in a situation where creativity is more likely to occur.
sometimes people get used to writing a certain way and it’s very hard for them to come out of that and change how they write. So essentially what we’re trying to do here is give you tools to try and try stuff a bit differently, essentially.
And the other reason I hate the term writer’s block, is that I think writer’s block gets worse when you give it more power than it deserves. I, I know people that haven’t written songs for a long time and unless I’ve got writer’s block right now. And I think the more you you give it power like that, the worse it gets. I think the key thing is to kind of realize that occasionally you get Tums when you’re feeling uncreative, and then it’s your job or your goal to find a way back to feeling creative again.
And it’s, it’s, I think it’s easier than you might think. And so I think, why I, I dislike the term writer’s book, as I said, is I think it kind of gives it this kind of elevated status where it’s like bigger than you and no, it’s not. It’s you’re a creative person, you’re writing songs and so, you know, you are more powerful than that perceived block.
So what the open zone and close zone is, these two different states we flip into when we’re feeling we’re trying to be creative, and the close zone is the state we’re in. We’re not feeling particularly creative. All the ideas don’t tend to come. So that’s usually when we first sit down with an instrument, the mistake a lot of people make is they sit down with an instrument and they say, I’m gonna write a great song. And, they sit down and the pressure of trying to write a great song is immediately upon them.
We need time. So trying to write great songs when you are under pressure isn’t always easy. I mean, a deadline can help a, a week away or two weeks away. That could be a really great thing. But if you are sitting down and you want, and you, and you’re giving yourself half an hour to write a great song that doesn’t tend to feel very creative, you need space as well. So you need time away from people or with people that you are collaborating with.
And you need to get to a place where you are no longer overthinking. So as I said before, it’s like a, a meditative state. And when all those thoughts tend to switch off, you tend to tap into a kind of high level of creativity where you’re kind of not really aware what’s going on. I dunno if you’ve had those moments before where you are, you are working on something and when you start it’s a little difficult, but then you get into it and an hour later you kind of come to and realize you’ve been doing it, working on it for an hour.
You can do that sometimes when you’re painting and decorating and you just get into it and you kind of meditate in a way about it. And it just becomes this kind of state you get into. And this is where I think songwriting is at, its kind of, or where ideas tend to come out of. So, just to reiterate, I think creativity is, is it’s not a talent, it’s a way of operating. And you can get into that way of operating if you give yourself the right amount of time, space, and room.
So as I say, you have to give yourself that time and space to feel creative. If you want to basically schedule a time a week where you are gonna do some songwriting, that’s a great way of doing it Every Wednesday and every Friday at four o’clock under an hour of songwriting. And you don’t, you don’t go out of that room, you don’t answer any phone calls. You just stay in there and you and you and you and you play and write. and as I said, remember earlier I said what these two things are, closed zone is purposeful and analytical and oppa zone is playful and relaxed.
It’s really key to also remember that it’s actually quite useful when you are writing a song to be able to switch back and forth between those two mindsets. Coming up with the idea and the kind of the initial riff or Melo idea or whatever it might be. That’s very much an open zone thing. But when you’re coming to structuring it and arranging it, that is a closed zone task. Where, how’s this gonna work?
When’s the chorus? How many bars the chorus is gonna be, you know, is it gonna be middle, late? You know, all these things can be a bit more analytical and a bit more structured and thought out. The open zone, however, is where the kind of slightly more esoteric intangible things happen.
