Compositional Writer’s Block
“This is terrible… I’m such a poser… This is never getting finished… I’m a talentless hack… Where do I go next?!” – me, at one point or another.
We’ve all been there. An imminent deadline on the horizon, halfway through a music project, burning the late-night oil… and your talent just switches off. The inspiration you had when you started yielded some good results at the outset, but then you suddenly reach a point where you’re fresh out of ideas and the music you’re writing sounds – by your own reckoning – bad.
“I am hitting my head against the walls, but the walls are giving way.” – Gustav Mahler
Compositional writer’s block may take two different forms. The first iteration is comparable to what authors, poets, and fine-artists experience: nothing new, interesting, or inspired is coming to you, leaving you with a blank canvas and nowhere to go. The second is, in my opinion, more common for composers: midway through a project you experience a sheer drop-off in quality. Whether it’s objectively truthful or not, your sensibilities tell you that the music you’re producing right now is simply not up to scratch.
“Mournful and yet grand is the destiny of the artist.” – Franz Liszt
For any number of reasons ranging from exhaustion or fatigue to real-life distractions to relationship problems to intellectual burnout, the spark from whence we drew divine inspiration to resolve a musical creation has fizzled out, leaving us high and dry – many times with a deadline still ticking closer.
“Nothing primes inspiration more than necessity.” – Giacchino Rossini
With this in mind, I’d like to share some tidbits of wisdom from the classical pantheon coupled with what I hope is genuinely helpful advice that may help you (help yourself) out of a creative musical slump. While this may be intended for composers, I think it readily applies to other musical forms, including improvisation, practice and research etc.
1) Take a break!
“The old idea of a composer suddenly having a terrific idea and sitting up all night to write it is nonsense. Nighttime is for sleeping.” – Benjamin Britten
It’s been my experience that nothing cures a creative slump better than a good night’s sleep – often waking up later with at least one or two new ideas. Rest, in the form of either a one-hour power nap or a full REM cycle, stimulates melatonin in your body which triggers your body’s recuperative attributes.
“Inspiration is a guest that does not willingly visit the lazy.” – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Stepping away from your desk, studio, or crypt to refuel your brain, body and soul with some much-needed endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, or oxytocin can make a world of difference. Go outside, take in some sun and fresh air, go for a walk, or even put in an exercise session (gym, sport etc.). Grab yourself a yummy snack or a full-blown meal. Catch a movie or read a book. Meet up with a friend for a cup ‘o tea…
“The end of all good music is to affect the soul.” – Claudio Monteverdi
While all these things might seem to fall into the category of procrastination, they are in fact indispensable at recharging your body’s natural happy hormones and energy reserves. More to the point, they help us emotionally, psychologically, and even spiritually get back to that special place where we make music to stir people’s hearts and minds, and not merely fill a bunch of empty staves for a paycheck. After all…
“To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts – such is the duty of the artist.” – Robert Schumann
2) Listen to some ‘good’ music.
“Music, I feel, must be emotional first and intellectual second.” – Maurice Ravel
Speaking for myself, most of my inspiration has always ever come from existing music. We all have our favorite songs, composers, and artists, but more to the point, those special musical moments that stirred us to our very cores. It’s during times of dire creative bankruptcy that it’s best to turn to the masters before us for a soulful recharge. This might involve putting on an old recording from your personal archive or rewatching a sentimental scene from a nostalgic film or television series.
“Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal.” – Igor Stravinsky
Finding those works of genius that previously encouraged us toward our respective musical crafts reminds us that music is fundamentally at its core an emotional artform. Stirring the right mix of emotions in our psyche can be as tumultuous and rewarding both personally as well as for the unfinished works waiting impatiently for us to finish them.
“When I wished to sing of love, it turned to sorrow. When I wished to sing of sorrow, it was transformed for me into love.” – Franz Schubert
Getting back to that nostalgic spark, while perhaps not intellectual or rational, lets us tap into that creative collective unconsciousness that connects us to the masters of old (and new). After all, while music may comprise incalculable genres, origins, textures, and permutations, wherever it comes from or exists, it always brings us closer to humanity.
“When I am alone with my notes, my heart pounds and the tears stream from my eyes, and my emotion and my joys are too much to bear.” – Giuseppe Verdi
3) Forget about what other people might think.
“Competitions are for horses, not artists.” – Bela Bartok
Impressing one’s peers and audience can be simultaneously a powerful motivator whilst, more often than not, immobilizing your creativity with anxiety and trepidation – especially when you hit a creative brick wall.
“If it is art, it is not for all, and if it is for all, it is not art.” – Arnold Schoenberg
If you’re a perfectionist like me, this only makes things worse because I’m consistently unsatisfied with the work I’ve already done and obsessed about the unfinished work meeting some unmeetable standard. As a result, my wife has had to encourage me many times to finish the damn product and improve it later.
“I may not be a first-rate composer, but I am a first-class second-rate composer.” – Richard Strauss
A lesson I never seem able to learn or convince myself of is that what I think is ‘bad’ might not necessarily be as bad as I think. The fact is that music is subjective and very little music is objectively bad or wrong.
“There are moments when I’m more secure than other moments.” John Williams
4) Challenge yourself!
“Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.” – Johannes Brahms
If you’re anything like me you may be inclined during those dry spells to fall back onto those tried and tested techniques, styles, and approaches that you’ve mastered and with which you’re the most comfortable. However, I’ve often found that when I’m at my most creatively vulnerable, those are usually the best times to break new ground.
“Don’t only practice your art but force your way into its secrets.” – Ludwig van Beethoven
This may be risky if you have a pending deadline, but you’d be surprised how venturing into new musical territories might yield fruitful results. Having faith in those same abilities that got you this far can also be enough of a confidence booster to restore your musical mojo.
“Every great inspiration is but an experiment.” – Charles Ives
5) Look to a higher power.
“Music is a form of prayer.” – Toru Takemitsu
While it may seem like a cliché or something approximating fortune cookie wisdom, prayer or meditation is curative and therapeutic in its own right. Whether you're religious, agnostic or atheist, remember that many of the great masters of music believed in God in some form or another, and saw their inspiration as being connected to something greater than humanity. Whether you believe in a higher power or not, keep an open mind to the elevated reality of higher thought and quieting your mind to something as ethereal and esoteric as ‘inspiration’… it’s not too different from prayer after all.
“Vagueness is at times an indication of nearness to a perfect truth.” – Charles Ives
6) Remember that music is hard – rise to the occasion!
“A creative artist works on his next composition because he was not satisfied with his previous one.” – Dmitri Shostakovich
Like world-class athletes who push their bodies to the utmost limits in the pursuit of physical superiority – and the acclaim and success that come with it – most of us became musicians to similarly push ourselves to the limits of what we might achieve creatively. We all know how difficult, stressful, and emotionally draining this life is, but we also know how incredibly fulfilling and rewarding it is at the same time. Keep your eyes on that horizon, stay focused, and don’t ever give up…
“I’ve never known a musician who regretted being one. Whatever deceptions life may have in store for you, music itself is not going to let you down.” – Virgil Thomson
