And i may have asked this myself but i felt like starting a new thread.
What do you do to combat writers block? I dont have much trouble with riffs but lyrics are a different issue. Overthinking it probably. But id like to have a few new songs ready by october so i dont get sick of what the band has now. Im thinking of just writing random lines down every day and see if i can flesh them out meanwhile using the residents' method of decomposition to get the juices otherwise flowing. Thoughts?
I combat writer's block by not believing in it. I believe I am a procrastinating, unmotivated slacker and I work to combat those issues, instead. If, on the rare occasion it is an inspiration issue, I start by writing what it is that I want. And then I refine it from there until it is what I want.
It starts something like "I need a demon and an angel to fight over an apple pie in a gristly and ghastly fashion but the pie comes out perfectly whole and neither of them win it in the end."
And then I write the scenery. The background, why are they fighting over the pie. I write dialog. And the fight part. While trying to keep track of the pie. Then I start whittling it down and changing the words up until the poetry comes out.
When it comes to song lyrics, I usually jam on the music while I try out some ideas for the phrasing and melody of the vocals. Once something starts to fit musically, words and phrases start to pop into place. I usually do this untill I've got about 50:50 actual lyrics to filler then I sit down and finish writing/revising them.
That's probably not terribly useful, but it works for me.
Try writing from a different persona.
thats horseshit
dont listen to him
I always suspected whn and dreadful were the same. Also what is dreadfuls avatar?
I put the project down for a little while and focus on something else or I go outside for a couple hours.
I always thought it was a fish, but it's not.
How about Oblique Strategies (http://www.rtqe.net/ObliqueStrategies/Consult.html)? :) You can also use a Tarot deck for nearly the same purposes btw.
Online Javascript version that still works: http://www.palace.net/~llama/oblique/
Hmm. Ill have to check that out this weekend
(http://media.turnofspeed.com/media/hub/main_cheer2105272.jpg)
Alcohol and sleep deprivation.
Or did you want good solutions?
:lulz: heres what alcohol and sleep deprivation does to my inspiration. Alright im going to write a song. Right after i have another beer and let my attention wander to something else entirely. Repeat.
Pick a theme... What are you trying to say? Just "gimme something new" isn't going to kick your creativity in the junk... What are you trying to evoke?
Quote from: Chronicles of Twiddick on May 18, 2012, 08:15:04 PM
I always suspected whn and dreadful were the same. Also what is dreadfuls avatar?
I always thought it was a fish too, I think it might be an owl, I dunno, but its something dead and dreadful.
But seriously, the writer's block thing sucks. And truthfully, as far as PD goes, sometimes getting into the tdh persona does help me get the writing juices flowing. Other times, Ive just started scrawling shit on paper.
Scrawling Shit would be a good band name.
Really good advice all around. Luna- i think the first thing im picking is that song i promised grandmas corpse to make up for being a bad grandchild. Just kidding. Sort of. Ive been putting that one off but it seems the random lines i was jotting down today were gravitating to that anyway. Ive pretty much processed it at this point and got past the guilt of not visiting her for her last three years but its still recent enough that i could write a little strongly about it. Then after that ill write a butt rock song about getting drunk and leering at women. I like a palate cleanser after writing something a little close to home like that. That reminds me. Need to pitch that song about my depression and then set that song about hatesex to music for comedic purposes.
Roll with it. :)
I dunno much about curing writer's block... but I know the surest way to CAUSE it with me is for me to say, "oh, YEAH, I can do something with that..."
WHAM.
I think my main drawbacks are:
-ok what am i writing about
-i need to write alone in the dark 50 miles from civilization before i show it to anyone because otherwise someone will read the crappy bits over my shoulder
-related: thats too fucking cheesy :trash: (instead of tweak)
-how the hell am i going to come up with a guitar riff or a chord progression for that?
-Hey guys i wrote this song. All of it. Including your parts. Oh. Ok yeah ill start up that dictatorial side project soon.
-Semi-related: i am a horrible procrastinator. :cdgasm:
Quote from: Chronicles of Twiddick on May 19, 2012, 01:08:37 AM
I think my main drawbacks are:
-ok what am i writing about
-i need to write alone in the dark 50 miles from civilization before i show it to anyone because otherwise someone will read the crappy bits over my shoulder
-related: thats too fucking cheesy :trash: (instead of tweak)
-how the hell am i going to come up with a guitar riff or a chord progression for that?
-Hey guys i wrote this song. All of it. Including your parts. Oh. Ok yeah ill start up that dictatorial side project soon.
-Semi-related: i am a horrible procrastinator. :cdgasm:
Mmm. From now on, do not trash ANYTHING. Even if it's utter garbage. Hand it to someone you trust for review and repair, first.
That does work. Ive always been inclined to write in composition notebooks instead of looseleaf. Im stuck with it. Funny thing about that is that it has happened that anarchangel lyrics were formed before anarchangel started. Even funnier the name anarchangel came from the same note book (i went through a phase when i was enamored with lucifer as a character. I later defined an anarchangel not as a rebel angel but rather an angel that renounced archangelhood for its own path-neither gods nor satans. But some odd totally free third option between damnation and salvation.)
Not that Im in a band or anything, but writing lyrics is hard. thats why when I was writing and recording music, I mostly did instrumental stuff. Every time I tried it came out as goofy garbage. Just not my thing I suppose.
So uh
My advice might not be very useful. I have never had writers block; I have had writer's diarrhea, but never writer's block. Sometimes I don't FEEL like writing, or am not INSPIRED to write, but here is the thing.
Every shitting thing that streams out of your fingers is writing. You are never "blocked", it's just that sometimes you're a shitty fucking writer, and you fear the fuck out of that, so you avoid writing because your ego has you so bound up and creatively constipated that you're too busy being a pussy-ass motherfucker afraid of how dumb you'll sound to actually just let that shit, that mediocre, idiotic, barely comprehensible bullshit just flow from your brain to your fingertips.
Here's my advice:
FUCK IT.
Stop being afraid to be a terrible writer. Just sit your insecure pansy motherfucking ass down and write the worst thing you can think of. Try to be good, try to be bad, or try to simply string a sentence together; it does not fucking matter at all. Get drunk or don't get drunk; get jacked on coffee or don't. Doesn't fucking matter. Just FUCK IT.
After you've fucked it for a few pages, go back and read what you wrote. Pull out the good shit. Keep in mind, anything you think is genius now is probably shit and will get culled later. DOES NOT MATTER RIGHT NOW. If it inspires you, build around it, and if it doesn't,
KEEP ON FUCKING THAT CHICKEN.
So while some may see "anarch angel" i see "not an archangel." the ambiguity was intentional but i did once publically spell it out as an-archangel."
must be laconic
How bout "An Archangel"?
Bet you didn't mean that.
Its true that i didnt think of an archangel but i like that ambiguity too. Wheres the emphasis? Its just one word.
Laconic.
I think nigel nailed it. Idle hands are dead hands. Or at least an idle pen hand is a dead hand. (left hand for beer or coffee!!!). If i am doing nothing else i should be writing. I should always be doing something unless im sleeping.
Also nigel- ive even done some culling on the grandma lyrics. Sometimes you have a good shit but sometimes it starts out hard then easy then watery then satisfying.
Can you believe i rhymed omey with homey? No fuck that (my grandmothers grave is located on omey island/peninsula (depends on the tides which also figure in)
Well uh... That kinda hurt. But with a little cleaning up i just wrote a song. Mental note- no cathartic songwriting at the bar. You wont be able to control the leakage.
Quote from: PROFOUNDLY RETARDED CHARLIE MANSON on May 19, 2012, 01:28:51 AM
So uh
My advice might not be very useful. I have never had writers block; I have had writer's diarrhea, but never writer's block. Sometimes I don't FEEL like writing, or am not INSPIRED to write, but here is the thing.
Every shitting thing that streams out of your fingers is writing. You are never "blocked", it's just that sometimes you're a shitty fucking writer, and you fear the fuck out of that, so you avoid writing because your ego has you so bound up and creatively constipated that you're too busy being a pussy-ass motherfucker afraid of how dumb you'll sound to actually just let that shit, that mediocre, idiotic, barely comprehensible bullshit just flow from your brain to your fingertips.
Here's my advice:
FUCK IT.
Stop being afraid to be a terrible writer. Just sit your insecure pansy motherfucking ass down and write the worst thing you can think of. Try to be good, try to be bad, or try to simply string a sentence together; it does not fucking matter at all. Get drunk or don't get drunk; get jacked on coffee or don't. Doesn't fucking matter. Just FUCK IT.
After you've fucked it for a few pages, go back and read what you wrote. Pull out the good shit. Keep in mind, anything you think is genius now is probably shit and will get culled later. DOES NOT MATTER RIGHT NOW. If it inspires you, build around it, and if it doesn't,
KEEP ON FUCKING THAT CHICKEN.
This is the boat I am in and the motorcycle I use to get off said boat. Sans chicken fucking. :lulz:
Because of this thread, and Nigel's good advice, I went and looked at the KFTC video again. The look on that lady's face is PRICELESS.
Trip, thanks for mentioning oblique whatever thing and that a tarot deck will do just as good a job. :D It gave me something to write about and was helpful.
Due to closeness of subject matter i left notebook on kitchen table for keyboardist. Shes one of my best friends as well as objective reviewer.
Quote from: Chronicles of Twiddick on May 19, 2012, 05:30:42 AM
Due to closeness of subject matter i left notebook on kitchen table for keyboardist. Shes one of my best friends as well as objective reviewer.
This sounds like a potentially productive strategy.
How do you deal with writers block?
You write regardless.
If you cannot think of anything, write that down. Write down that you are writing things down. Write down you are imagining Cain ordering you to write things down. Write down how meta this whole thing is becoming.
You write and you write and you write even if you have nothing to say because you need to kick your own ass until you're into the habit of writing whether or not you "feel" like it.
Quote from: Cain on May 19, 2012, 08:43:44 PM
How do you deal with writers block?
You write regardless.
If you cannot think of anything, write that down. Write down that you are writing things down. Write down you are imagining Cain ordering you to write things down. Write down how meta this whole thing is becoming.
You write and you write and you write even if you have nothing to say because you need to kick your own ass until you're into the habit of writing whether or not you "feel" like it.
WHY DOES EVERYTHING BECOME SO META HERE!@!!!!!@$%$#@%^*&*)*&%&%%$Y^%&*%^$!
I find that writing very, very bad poetry is helpful.
I should not be afraid to write something shitty if im the only person reading it.
Also anne marie approves of lyrics. Probably going to be a new song.
You could taka a bunch of lyrics that never made it, but almost did, or write a paragraph on a theme you might want to sing about.
Put them all on one sheet sheet of paper (or more, if you have that much).
Then, cut the sheet into 8 equal pieces, and put them in a hat or a box.
Randomly draw out the pieces and reconstruct the page as the pieces are drawn from the hat.
Take a look at what you have just created. Either use it, or get inspired by it.
Example (post- cutup):
In the dark sub-basement, dirt cellar door was still firmly knew that while rare, from outside to open it. Out there, but this seemed earth heaved again, and I was torn, but stopped, all of a stayed put, and wrapped one was silent, the air was still full when it would all sound. I grabbed near the central beam of the cross the ceiling at the rattling was still upstairs. The arrows of light shown, and there were no attempts and I could smell smoke. It made an effort sto stand, but the bound journal found fifty miles knocked off balance. Trouble with his brain again, around J, wondering go see him, but it was odd that I have a mess of ground shaking misfiring neurons to thank for earthquakes weren't unfamiliar touched down, I got a call like a big one.