The dreaded WB...

[linziellen]

Only me!I'm struggling to even work with my near complete lyrics at the moment. Could this be the dreaded WB? I sit, stare, sit, stare some more, try and think, stare, throw a few words down that don't make sense, sit, stare, feel defeated, sigh...goes on for a while. I've been reading lots of lyrics and listening to lots of music to make up for lost writing time but I sure hope it's on it's way back. I'm not stuck down that gap of doubt but I don't feel I'm getting anywhere. How do you guys keep pushing on through these weird periods of blockage? Laxatives !?!Lindsey

[hummingbird]

Apr 19, 2008, 1:33pm, linziellen wrote:Only me!I'm struggling to even work with my near complete lyrics at the moment. Could this be the dreaded WB? I sit, stare, sit, stare some more, try and think, stare, throw a few words down that don't make sense, sit, stare, feel defeated, sigh...goes on for a while. I've been reading lots of lyrics and listening to lots of music to make up for lost writing time but I sure hope it's on it's way back. I'm not stuck down that gap of doubt but I don't feel I'm getting anywhere. How do you guys keep pushing on through these weird periods of blockage? Laxatives !?!Lindsey don't force it. read over what you have, go for a walk, have a shower, do the dishes... a line will come to you. Sing what you have over and over as you do other things.

[byllsong]

Think of the plant.Your seed is planted firmly in the ground.That seed will germinate and open underground, and roots will begin to grow awhile before you see a leaf.Keep on reading and listening. That is your roots gathering nourishment to produce a bud, that will become a rose Billy

[milfus]

ok, first, this is gonna sound new agey as all hell, but, the science is thereyou can manually shut off your left brain and force right brain dominance which will cause you to day dream and stuff, basicly to get a few random ideas and maybe finish your songfirstget a peice of paper and a pencilsecondstare at the creases in your hand, and without looking, start to draw all the little contoursnow at this point this, your logical brain, will try and see shapes and name them, and try to tell you just how stupid this actually is, and that its a huge waste of time, and youll never get it, this is expected, ignore that and try not to think any words, humming helps if you dont name the notes, or hearing soft music in your head, i generally put on a classical station, just keep drawing the contours of your hand, without looking at the paper, redraw some if necessary, go back over the same lines, just really study the curves and try and record them with the pencil in your other hand without looking.after a while (can be up to 10 minutes of you feeling like an idiot) a shift will happen, you will actually start to get interested in the curves, you will feel a kind of timelessness, and if you snap yourself out of it (which happens sometimes) you will generally feel pretty refreshed, like you took in a good breath, but while in that state, just let your mind wander some and it will gladly, and try and remember what that state of mind feels like, with practice you can actually cultivate that right brain dominant way of thinking, and summon it when you are thinking of lines and stuff, and generally itll flash a really good line, or some nice ideas after awhile, tho it takes some practice to be able to switch to it without helpbut on a personal note, I stole this technique from a few psyche books, and its basicly intentionally shutting off your rational thought, so your creativity runs wild, i would say more about it, but if you just try it, it will work, and youll be happy, i do it daily

[Mark Kaufman]

Take a shower and try to work on the lyrics in there, from memory. Seriously.

[linziellen]

Thank you guys Cool ideas, the shower always gets me singing, even the old microwave and that funky "TING" at the end lol! It's just each time I sit down to write my brain just sloooows down and I feel like my mind is failing me. It's weird, a couple of weeks ago I had ideas almost spilling from my ears. Thanks H, Billy, Mark and Milfus that's a brilliant idea, I'll try anything. I've just sat here and almost forced myself to revamp one of my older babies. I could tell my head was routing for stuff but not like before. I trust it will come back but it's like waiting for a train. I'll just keep waiting!

[milfus]

tellin ya, draw your hand

[squids]

Milfus, you crackin' me up. I use white-out and paint my nails. Honestly? Forget about it. Go do something else. Write another song. Come back to it. Stupid stuff will wake you up in the middle of the night with the whole thing all done!

[milfus]

hey, im totally serious

[linziellen]

Lol I'm off to bed. At this rate I'll be shouting monstrosities at the neighbors dog tomorrow, if I get a reaction...I'll write about it. It's a funny old world, there must be plenty to keep me going.............