Members Jack Q Posted July 30, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 30, 2008 Thanks everyone for your responses and ideas. I must say though, a few posts have really got to me, especially the one written by Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johnny-Boy Posted July 30, 2008 Members Share Posted July 30, 2008 I can't remember the great author that said: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted July 30, 2008 Members Share Posted July 30, 2008 Yeah, it's all about forming productive habits and priorities. TV can be a destructive force (it's an addiction). Best, John:cool: I do my best work watching Perry Mason re-runs on TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cyclists Posted July 30, 2008 Members Share Posted July 30, 2008 I guess there are some good things to learn from TV. it's that tv writers are self-congratulatory hacks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted July 30, 2008 Members Share Posted July 30, 2008 Thanks everyone for your responses and ideas. I must say though, a few posts have really got to me, especially the one written by Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johnny-Boy Posted July 30, 2008 Members Share Posted July 30, 2008 I do my best work watching Perry Mason re-runs on TV. I can relate to that. When I do watch TV, it's usually old reruns. I'm embarrased to say that I still watch "Leave It to Beaver". Two of my favorites are "The Fugitive" and "Gunsmoke". John:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDR Posted July 30, 2008 Members Share Posted July 30, 2008 I do my best work watching Perry Mason re-runs on TV. I've tried this, but everything that I produce is incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johnny-Boy Posted July 30, 2008 Members Share Posted July 30, 2008 I've tried this, but everything that I produce is incompetent, irrelevant and immaterial. Don't be so egotistical MDR. John:cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slight-return Posted July 30, 2008 Members Share Posted July 30, 2008 FWIW - I didn't take chickn monkey's post as really particularly negative [Now, I'm not familiar with chicken Monkey, so maybe if he has an overall tenor that is negative or insulting that might cast a different light on it] even the "nobody will hear it" I thought was maybe more a comment abt the mindset approaching the work - though, in terms of odds it could be true, and these particular tunes may even wind up as more of a springboard to the NEXT project The stuff about "you want to have written, not write", I took as a commentary on how a perfectionist mindset can work (as opposed to a personal slight) - That the perfectionist mindset can get way way focused on the product and how nice it is to have a finished, perfect product without the messy details of the work, the compromises and the failure [i have this with remodelling my house - BTW, so as I talk abt it, I'm sitting in that boat] I found it kind of a frank description of that. I think, often, we can tend to subtley spin "perfectionist" and "control freak" in a somewhat positive light "I am so dedicated to the artistic vision that no variation will be accepted". It reminds me a lot of a young buck's first attempt at loving a woman...I think many of us have seen (OK, been) that wet-blanket trainwreck! (no comment ) so anyway, I didn't find the concept substantially different than Blue2Blue, et al. BTW - I tend to agree, turn off the editor, worry about the small picture (that next 8 bars), and sweat -- get something done. try worrying more about "done" than "perfect" I wish I could credit the source (female, I think visual artist, I believe USA) with this perspective "Art is the residue of the artistic process) It puts art in an interesting light in that it makes it a process thing more than a product thing. From another discipline : sometimes in MTB riding, there will be a tricky problem of rocks...very very...VERY often, when people fail to make it through it's not because of their line or their weight distribution or any of that...it's because they stop pedalling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Poor Yorick Posted July 30, 2008 Members Share Posted July 30, 2008 When I feel like writing songs but don't have any in the chamber, I usually browse my way through wikipedia taking mental note of phrases, images, and subjects that interest me. That's usually enough to get a song or two going. If I need more inspiration, I'll pick a topic and read three or more books about it -- stealing phrases and ideas as I go. Also, I'd take a break during the day at work (office job with a lot of control over my day) and try to just write lyrics out in notepad for 30 minutes or so. Just make yourself do it. It could well be crap -- especially if writing lyrics first is weird for you -- but you should at least come away with a few decent couplets that you can rework into a good song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 3red Posted July 30, 2008 Members Share Posted July 30, 2008 I wish I could credit the source (female, I think visual artist, I believe USA) with this perspective "Art is the residue of the artistic process) jenny holzer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slight-return Posted July 30, 2008 Members Share Posted July 30, 2008 jenny holzer? just dunno Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ido1957 Posted July 30, 2008 Members Share Posted July 30, 2008 IOW try to finish your songs one at a time. It is better to have one complete song than a hundred one liners. (Not to take away from your "starts", I'm sure some of them are gold.) Kinda parallel to the old, "a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush" cliche. Great advice - this is the methodology I use. One song at a time and finish it and I rarely go back and change it. If it's no good, someone here will let me know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eeglug Posted July 30, 2008 Members Share Posted July 30, 2008 Yes, CM can be brutally honest sometimes...although there are others here at HC that are worse...hehe. I can kinda see where he's (CM) coming from. The OP's post #1 reads like a list of assets acquired in the hopes of becoming a songwriter - he's got the gear, the books, the goals, ideas - isn't that all you need? It sounds like what a very organized investment banker type would do to learn something totally foreign to him - gather all the trappings of the idiom without having the actual soul or aptitude or talent for it. Jack Q has now clarified himself so I see now that there is more to him. It's just the way the first post is worded that gives me a false impression. There's a lot of good advice given in this thread already. Try some of them out. For myself, I've taken time off when the creative juice seems to have run out. There's no point forcing something that isn't happening. IMO, your time is better spent looking to other parts of your life and developing them instead getting further in a rut. (Take up another hobby.) When the desire and true passion comes back, you'll definitely know it. Good luck - and I don't think this forum is as abrasive as you think it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted July 31, 2008 Members Share Posted July 31, 2008 If you are, indeed, in this for the writing part, the best advice I've had recently is to lower your goals for your session. Not, "I'm going to write a hit" or even "I'm going to write a song", but "I'm going to come up with a new chord progression", "I'm going to come up with 20 words that rhyme with ______", "I'm going to choose one song idea from my 200 pages and free-associate to generate ideas", "I'm going to prioritize/organize what I've got", etc. Take the pressure off, remember that nobody will hear your CD after you finish it anyway, and let it flow. GREAT post! +100 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members richardmac Posted July 31, 2008 Members Share Posted July 31, 2008 Best book on writer's block is Steven Pressfield's "The War of Art." If you haven't read it, pick it up and read it this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted July 31, 2008 Members Share Posted July 31, 2008 On writing while watching Perry Mason reruns:Best book on writer's block is Steven Pressfield's "The War of Art." If you haven't read it, pick it up and read it this weekend. Great title! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johnny-Boy Posted July 31, 2008 Members Share Posted July 31, 2008 I copied this from Ken Osmond's bio. A couple years after he left the show: Joined the Los Angeles Police Department. He grew a mustache to help secure his anonymity. A long-time member of its vice squad, he was wounded three times during the line of duty, eventually retired and earned a medical disability pension from the police force Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johnny-Boy Posted July 31, 2008 Members Share Posted July 31, 2008 Sorry for turning this into a "Leave It to Beaver" thread. Before: After: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted July 31, 2008 Members Share Posted July 31, 2008 Sorry, Jack! But you never know where you'll find inspiration. I don't think I've written a song inspired by a Leave It to Beaver episode -- but I did write this song, directly inspired by the 20 year high school reunion episode on the old Andy Griffith Show. (It's a guest re-appearance by Barnie Fife and Thelma Lou.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Johnny-Boy Posted July 31, 2008 Members Share Posted July 31, 2008 Sorry, Jack ! But you never know where you'll find inspiration. I don't think I've written a song inspired by a Leave It to Beaver episode -- but I did write this song, directly inspired by the 20 year high school reunion episode on the old Andy Griffith Show. (It's a guest re-appearance by Barnie Fife and Thelma Lou.) Hey that's great Blue! I would have married Thelma Lou! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MDR Posted July 31, 2008 Members Share Posted July 31, 2008 On writing while watching Perry Mason reruns:Best post of the week so far. Great title ! What's really amazing is that I remember this after all this time (I haven't watched PM in decades)! That line (Incompetent, Irrelevant, Immaterial) would make a good song title, wouldn't it? The chorus could be something like: I hate Della, I hate Paul I REALLY hate Perry, that know-it-all! cheers R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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