Are you ever worried about "running out of creativity" ?

[davie]

 

Hey guys, I won't lie but this came across my mind many times. Are you ever worried about running out of creativity, and losing that "spark" ? I feel really fortunate that I can come up with good melodies fairly easily (lyrics are another story, lol). Do you think these "wellsprings of creativity" will eventually run dry?

Let me know your personal thoughts about this.

 

Here's an interview where Bob Dylan mentions this issue:

 

[Chicken Monkey]

I think it's an absurd thing to be worried about.  The brain loses some fluidity as you age, but you gain discipline and knowledge.  And if you're lucky, maybe some wisdom.  It appears to be a problem among pop acts because there's often a noticable decline in quality and relevance as a pop star grows older, but age is a tiny factor compared to the other forces at play in the life of an aging pop star--accolades, money, changing priorities, fame and its consequences, and so on.  

[davie]

True. When I was younger, my music was "interesting" but very unrefined. I feel like I improved this most in these couple of years. I tend not to write/compose things on a tangent anymore, things seem more structured and coherent now, which I would consider progress. So I guess I still have a lot of momentum still, because I'm still constantly improving my craft.

I think everything is good. Just wanted to know your guys thoughts on this.

[oldgitplayer]

We've all got some creativity despite the fact that the education system made an early start on eradicating it from us.

Some end up with bucketloads, and some end up with a teaspoonful. Those of us with the teaspoon, just have to work a helluvalot harder. And will all the hard work make a Bob Dylan or Paul Simon out of me? Nah - that train left the station 50 years ago, but I can still chew the fat on songwriter forums from time to time.......

[Marshal]

 

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Chicken Monkey wrote:

 

 

I think it's an absurd thing to be worried about. . . , 

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It's worry that saps creativity. Or forcing it. Or trying too hard to solicit a response from someone. Or getting depressed about lack of response. 

 

It's the "nay-say" emotions that overrun the creative energy.

[Chicken Monkey]

And really, how bad would it be to lose the urge to write songs? I mean, it would suck to lose creativity when it comes to solving problems in general, but if I never want to write a song again, so what? I'm reminded of the ads they play during talk radio for supplements to revive your sex drive. I'd LOVE to suffer from low sex drive--think of the time I'd save!

 

Former forumite tamoore lost his songwriting mojo after writing two great albums. Now he's brewing beer and running in those toe-shoes. He's fine.

[rhino55]

I've already taken a couple years off from writing and still managed to gig a couple times a month picking up gigs as a guitar player. I guess in that regard the creativity never really goes away for me.

 

When it comes to songwriting specifically, I have enough material to keep me playing out for a while before I'd get too bored. Honestly, I think that's probably what keeps me writing more than anything else. By the time I'm done with a song, I've played it so many times, I'm usually sick of it so I start writing something else.

[nat whilk II]

To be productive, I have to find that little narrow path where I fully engage my abilities but I don't try to exceed them, where what I come up with pleases some other people but isn't geared specifically to please them, where I'm inspired by all the other great artists out there but I'm not oppressed by their superiority, and where I take the time that it takes to do the job right but I don't neglect all my other fundamental responsibilities in life.

 

So I'm on that little narrow path just some % of the time, unsurprisingly.  But I do keep trying to get back there...but it's work just to find it, much less stay on it.

 

nat whilk ii

[Ernest Buckley]

Writing is work. Putting in the time to work on the craft is whats called for. You can draw inspiration from many sources in life but waiting for that magical moment where a song writes itself is not what I`m waiting for.

These days I am very deliberate in my writing. I guess that partly due to experience and necessity. I will book a session with myself in which I will decide to write a chorus in one hour. Thats it, I`ll give myself a time limit to get a job done. Then walk away. Obviously, I`ll come back and tweak it like all writers but for me its about making a schedule and keeping to it. I find that setting limitations on tasks gets them done. 

I was having this conversation just the other day with a friend who also writes tunes. We were talking about how deliberate our writing has become. There was a time when we both waited for inspiration to strike before we wrote a tune which meant we wrote an idea every now and then. Then came the dreaded dry period where nothing was written.

Thats when you start to think of questions you asked to start the thread... 

But then I remembered, when I am asked to write something specifically for someone, I can easily do it so that was an epiphany for me. Inspiration is a rare source for writing but deciding to write about something specific and working on it is the best way to write.

These days I still have fleeting moments of inspiration but its really me deciding I`m going to write a chorus about Subject A or B or C and just give myself one hour to do so that gets it done. Then when the initial idea is done you go back and tweak... 

[Monkey Uncle]

 

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Ernest Buckley wrote:

 

 

Writing is work. Putting in the time to work on the craft is whats called for. You can draw inspiration from many sources in life but waiting for that magical moment where a song writes itself is not what I`m waiting for.

 

These days I am very deliberate in my writing. I guess that partly due to experience and necessity. I will book a session with myself in which I will decide to write a chorus in one hour. Thats it, I`ll give myself a time limit to get a job done. Then walk away. Obviously, I`ll come back and tweak it like all writers but for me its about making a schedule and keeping to it. I find that setting limitations on tasks gets them done. 

 

I was having this conversation just the other day with a friend who also writes tunes. We were talking about how deliberate our writing has become. There was a time when we both waited for inspiration to strike before we wrote a tune which meant we wrote an idea every now and then. Then came the dreaded dry period where nothing was written.

 

Thats when you start to think of questions you asked to start the thread... 

 

But then I remembered, when I am asked to write something specifically for someone, I can easily do it so that was an epiphany for me. Inspiration is a rare source for writing but deciding to write about something specific and working on it is the best way to write.

 

These days I still have fleeting moments of inspiration but its really me deciding I`m going to write a chorus about Subject A or B or C and just give myself one hour to do so that gets it done. Then when the initial idea is done you go back and tweak... 

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I wish I could do this.  When I try to push something, it usually results in a blank piece of paper and a recycled chord progression that's been done a million times before.  I know, I should learn to keep pushing through the crap so I can make incremental progress.

[Kotch]

Before the end of September I should reach a personal milestone -- my 500th original song. I stopped worrying about the creative well running dry quite some time ago. In fact, I've found the more I write the easier it becomes to write. It also helps if you stop worrying about how good a song is, or how original, or whether it's derivative, or pushing enough boundaries, or whatever else. The trick is to write a lot of songs. After the fact, you can pick out which are the good ones.

 

[Ernest Buckley]

 

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Kotch wrote:

 

 

Before the end of September I should reach a personal milestone -- my 500th original song. I stopped worrying about the creative well running dry quite some time ago. In fact, I've found the more I write the easier it becomes to write. It also helps if you stop worrying about how good a song is, or how original, or whether it's derivative, or pushing enough boundaries, or whatever else. The trick is to write a lot of songs. After the fact, you can pick out which are the good ones.

 

 

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Congrats.... its funny because I never counted songs and to be honest, I don`t think I have anywhere near that #. My writing is more about living with a song for months or even years and tweaking it. Granted, when I have a deadline or I`m writing for a project, things get done rather quickly but aside from that, I`m taking my time. 

I`ve been finishing up my CD over the summer and there a couple of songs that I`ve been living with now for a good 5 years and its time to tweak so now I found myself digging in and getting it done but its funny because when I`m writing for my own projects, I find myself ultra critical but I agree with you that its a great idea to not judge anything as you write. 

[Jes Johnson]

Well, I think we all go through those periods when we feel creatively drained.  Personally, I just try to pay attention to the world around me and watch for stories that inspire me or lines that can lead to clever wordplay, etc.  I don't really think of it as something that comes from inside me so much, and never force myself to write a song.  I just write when I feel inspired.  That's what works for me anyway.  ;P

[davie]

Good input, guys. Good points from everyone. I think Marshal's post is similar to the way I've been feeling recently. I'm too worried about people's reception to my music. So I decided that I should just write not worry too much about what other people will think. I've realized that there's even plenty of good bands/artists that have the occasional bad song (or album). And also the fact that its impossible to have a song that EVERYONE will like. So I think sometimes its best to serve the audience that works best for you. There's a good phrase I read from David Hooper's Music marketing guide: "When you try to please everybody, you