How to Defeat the Dreaded, Highly Feared Monster We Call Writer’s Block

I hate to admit it, but writer’s block is just as prevalent in songwriting as it is in fiction writing. In fact, I find myself fighting this nasty demon even more in songwriting. Perhaps because in fiction writing, you can always jump around from scene to scene. But in songwriting, you only have so many words you can write. The premise and theme have to be precise. You’re allotted three and a half minutes, and you already know your repeating chorus is going to take up most of those seconds. That doesn’t give you a lot of time. So how do you deal with writer’s block when songwriting?

I wish I had a clear-cut answer. The truth is I’ve been suffering from writer’s block, myself. I used to write a couple of hundred songs a year. Over time it became a hundred songs a year. Then fifty. Then twenty-five. And once I reached that twenty-five mark, I knew I was in trouble from writer’s block.

If you’re struggling with writer’s block like me, here are five ideas to help you.

1. Create an audible library of snippets whenever inspiration strikes. Praise God for smartphones where we can take notes audibly and record our melodies, thoughts, ideas, and verbiage without writing them down on physical paper. Whereas, I may only have twenty-five completed songs in a year, I have hundreds of song pieces with melodies, themes, strum patterns, choruses, verses, bridges, and any other piece of a song I can muster up, saved to my smartphone via some recording apps. When I’m messing around on my guitar or the piano and I’m feeling inspired to create, yet, I can’t think of anything new to write lyrically, I often go and listen to these old song notes of mine to rewrite what I started or to formulate new ideas from them. What I recorded may never turn into a song, but it can inspire ideas for another new song. But if I didn’t record those snippets of inspiration in the first place, I would be starting at ground zero when I have writer’s block.
2. Create a story. Sometimes, the best way to write a song is to start by writing a short story. I would suggest finding a painting or a picture and create a fictional character who is in picture. Who is this character? Write a back story on this character so that you know this character inside and out. Why is this character in this setting? Give her a conflict. What does she need to overcome her conflict? What would give her victory? Her victory should be your chorus or bridge. Is there an enemy or antagonist? After you write a rough idea or short version of your story, you can pick and choose portions of it and work on creating lyrics to tell her narrative. Who is she? The waitress with tear-stained eyes and an apron too tight? What is your setting? An old, forgotten diner on Route 42? Why is she crying? Her kids have the flu and their daddy left too? You get the idea.
3. Hum melodies. Sometimes you’ll get an incredible melody idea in your head. Don’t worry about getting all the words down right away. Hum the melodies and write around it. Since you are smart enough to record the hummed melody to your smartphone, you can always come back to it. I usually will do this and just start singing words that come to my head, instead of forcing words. Sometimes something will stick that feels and sounds incredible, and then I write the song around that one simple line. Sometimes I’ll re-record that melody with different word options.
4. Say what you want. Is there something you feel strongly about that you have wanted to say for a long time? What passionate issue pulls at your heart? Abortion? Child Abuse? God’s Love? Healing? Write a small editorial based on your feelings—and then cut out pieces of the editorial to formulate pieces of a song. Look at the theme and create a chorus around that. For example, if I were to write a song on abortion, I would try to make it personal and come up with a character. Let’s name her Annie. What about her? Well, she was supposed to be born, but her mother aborted her. So what now? Let’s talk about things she’ll never experience—the feeling of her mother’s touch, staring into her mother’s eyes. Her first steps. Her first day of school. Her first crush. Going to prom. Getting married. Having her own child. But Annie won’t experience those things, because she went to heaven a little too early. Now, how can we formulate these ideas into a song?
5. Go for a walk. This is my favorite thing to do. For me, personally, I prefer walking in the city, observing everyday people in their everyday elements. The city has a vibe and will speak to you. What is it saying? What’s the temperament of the city? Is it fast-paced, business heavy? Is it littered with homeless people? Is it busting with young entrepreneurs? Is it an old town with out-of-date stores? Is it a crime-ridden area like Gotham city? Look a little closer and people watch. Take a notebook and start writing down ideas about the people you see. Your ideas don’t have to be factual—you can make up backstories: the homeless man with one shoe who holds an MBA from Harvard, the young business man drinking at the bar afraid to go home and tell his wife he lost his job, the girl selling herself on the street corner for drugs, the street musician hustling for money to pay for his daughter’s operation, etc. You get the idea.

If all of these fail you and you find yourself with writer’s block, my final suggestion is to get plenty of rest and exercise. Creativity seems to come when the mind is well-rested and the body feeling strong. Best of luck on your songs! Have an idea or a question for this column? Please leave a comment!

Matthew Hawk Eldridge is a coffee loving, calico-cat hugging, Renaissance man. When he’s not passionately penning screenplays or stories rich in musical history, he’s writing songs on his guitar or working on a film as an actor, double, musician, or stand-in. He is a Creative Writing graduate student at Full Sail University.