Michael Gaither

Every songwriter has done it. And every one of us has struggled with NOT being able to do it. You haven’t finished a song for awhile. You blame writer’s block. (Or you get all all lofty and whimsical and try to blame “the muse” for not inspiring you.)

So what do you do when you’re overdue for a new song, yet have NO idea where to start? Here are few kernels of wisdom I continually refer to:

Dave Carter – I was fortunate to see Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer at a workshop back when I first started writing songs, and I was able to ask Carter’s advice. When he’d first start a song, he wouldn’t worry about “chords or melody or music”. He’d focus solely on the tempo, and “find the rhythm” for the piece. Once he had a structure, he’d bring in the music. It’s a great technique. Also helps to keep your songs from falling into the same rhythmic rut.

Warren Zevon – A reporter once asked Warren Zevon – in a link that I can no longer find for the life of me – “What do you do when you need to write a song and you can’t?” Warren said, “It’s art. You can’t force it.” The reported followed up with “But what if you have a deadline?” Warren said, “You force it.” (Sometimes you just hunker down and write.)

Steve Martin – We all know Steve Martin is an Emmy-award winning writer, a comic who sold out stadiums to rock-star sized audiences, and a Grammy-winning recording artist both for comedy and for his new ventures into bluegrass music. (As someone who’s been learning to play the banjo, I particularly appreciate that last item.)

Martin’s also an accomplished writer and playwright. In his New Yorker Essay “Writing Is Easy”, Martin said to use this trick to get around a block:

“Go to an already published novel and find a sentence that you absolutely adore. Copy it down in your manuscript. Usually, that sentence will lead you to another sentence, and pretty soon your own ideas will start to flow.“

My own take on all this? – Take a sentence that you “adore” from one of your own notebooks that are filled with “brilliant” ideas. We all have those, right? Embellish the idea, and either “find the rhythm” that supports it or just “force it” into a song.

Keep in mind that writing is a muscle. Even if you just didn’t finish your next big hit, you need to keep those songs coming. Remember that the worst thing you ever wrote is better than the best thing you never wrote.