Tapping into the creative process or waiting for the cosmic two by four

Some days an experience triggers a song and it just comes out. Many of these are experiences that I could do without. How many heartache, got hit by a train songs have we heard? It’s like this cosmic 2 X 4 hits you on the head providing all the content and emotion needed for writing a song. The challenge is tap into the creative process, whenever you want, even if everything is going great, possibly ducking that 2 X 4.

I was in a class on the creative process the other night. Just learning something new sparked creativity. Here are some other thoughts.

· Creation is going on all the time. New ideas and thoughts are everywhere. At times you are either drawing things in or pushing them away. (Ernest Holmes). The challenge and opportunity is being open and receptive to new ideas.

· “Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one we have” (Emile Chartier)? “The best way to get a good idea, is to get a lot of ideas” (Roger von Oech). The number of ideas and your ability to generate new ideas is unlimited.

· In the presence of some people or experiences we are inspired, uplifted to great things. From where do your ideas flow?

· There are infinite perspectives on an idea or experience. People have been writing about love for thousands of years and can still find a unique perspective.

These are great concepts, so how do I use them in songwriting?

· To get inspired, I need to have lots of new experiences. This means getting out of the house, going to the mountains, being around interesting people, reading a good book...

· When I write, I often write one verse, go for a walk or do something else. The next verses come when I can tap into that stockpile of ideas hidden within the clutter in my mind.

· Take a concept or word and find multiple meanings. Here’s one example, I took the word “Cup.” Some of the ideas were - full or empty, large or small, cold or hot, steamy, hot chocolate, open or with a lid, right side up or upside down, cracked, water/beer/wine, part of a set, dusty, lipstick on the rim, spots left by the dishwasher, ....

The last point inspired me, now off to do the dishes.

Directed writing – add depth to your songwriting

I found myself in the unenviable position of having to sing an original song in 20 minutes and having only two verses, no melody, no chorus, and no final verse. Amazing as it sounds, I wrote a bridge, another verse and even shaky melody, and gave a performance that wasn’t awful.

This was the experience of day four of Paul Reisler’s directed writing course at Song School. The first three days we went through a process of developing the concepts and ideas for a song. As Paul stated, “premature writing destroys creativity,” “many songs suffer from a lack of depth.” In this class, we went to the bottom of the ocean.

The process was:
1) The story – We had a partner tell us a story about an event that transformed their lives. We were to listen and use this as the genesis of a songwriting idea. We were not tied to the story and had full liberty to change the event, add a different ending or write about something totally different.
2) Concept – Identify the transformation in one sentence and outline some points for a story.
3) Mind mapping – Taking the points identified, we then used a non-linear outlining technique called mind mapping to further define and describe.
4) Clustering - Circle key concepts that emerged and underline key images.
5) Free writing – We then went through a process of free writing (writing for a set time period with no editing, letting the pen flow) around an image or concept identified in the clustering exercise.
6) Identification of key points – We went back and highlighted key items that emerged in our writing.
7) Fairy Tale – We then transformed the key points from the free writing into a fairy tale, i.e. “Once upon a time...”
8) Creating metaphors – Taking key words from the fairy tale we then went through a mind mapping process to create a metaphor. This was a really cool process that hopefully I find time to describe later.
9) Putting it together - Writing and performing the song.

If this sounds like a lot of work, it was. It reminds me of the line that good songwriting is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.


The interesting thing was how easy it was to write the song after all the upfront work was done. For someone who typically writes with a guitar in hand and looks for words that rhyme, this was totally out of character. Also the song that developed was different from anything that I had written. Cool... Many of the others in the class had the same experience and some amazing performances were given on day 4.

Will I use this whole process again, maybe? Will I use some of the components, yes!


Would I recommend this workshop, definitely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New songwriting tips

An excellent songwriter, Rob Roper, has begun to add songwriting tips to my website.

Rob's first tip, Crawl First, is sage advice for the beginning songwriter. He provides some great suggestions for getting started.

Rob's second tip, Get out of the House, encourages songwriters not to write in a vacuum. Rob gives suggestions on where to go for ideas and to learn.

Thanks Rob!

Stuck? Walk away...

I was talking with an artist today. She mentioned that when she got stuck on a painting, she'd often leave it until she felt inspired. Sometimes it would sit for days or weeks. When she finally returned, she felt she came back stronger, more creative. She said that even though she wasn't consciously working on it, her brain was still painting.

I find the same to be true with songwriting. When I write, I often take a break in between verses or whenever the energy starts to ebb. Sometimes I leave a song for minutes, sometimes much longer. I like the concept of my subconscious working on it, when I'm not. I just wish it would worker faster and harder...

First thought/ best thought

I've come to the realization that I'm a terrible rewriter. I can write a song, but then I'm done with it. After receiving comments, rarely do I go back and change anything substantial.

In talking with Ben Senterfit he told me about two 60's Beat poets, Allan Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. Both were renowned in their time. Kerowac wrote with the philosophy, first thought, best thought. Ginsberg on the other hand was write, rewrite, then rewrite again.

Both worked but for different reasons. The first thought, best thought concept lead to something free and loose, yet still rough around the edges. Very appealing the first time you hear it. The write and rewrite felt more polished, yet something you needed to savor, looking for the deeper messages.

In thinking about this, I'm very much along the lines of first thought, best though (or as my friends might say, first thought, only thought). I could use a cowriter to add that polish.

Creativity in songwriting - the four stages of learning

I continue to ponder songwriting as a craft vs. creativity. Lately I've felt my creativity slip, while I learn more and more each day.

In teaching canoe instructors, I talk about the four stages of learning:
- Unconscious incompetent. Don't know and don't know that you don't know (i.e. totally clueless)
- Conscious incompetent - Know that you don't know
- Conscious competent - Can do if you really concentrate
- Unconscious competent - Can do without thinking about it

I think that pure creativity is highest during the first two stages. You don't know the rules, so you're constantly drawing outside the lines. You try things that the "experts" would never consider or had discounted from other's experience. The majority of times you fail, but occasionally you hit on a great novel idea. I've learned a lot in canoeing from those who never had a lesson, but just went out and survived. For that reason, I like hearing the songwriter, who developed their craft by themselves and is bringing it to the world for the first time. The majority need help, but occasionally...

For songwriting, I would classify myself in the third stage. I can write decent songs if I really think about it. Unfortunately, a lot of energy goes into thinking about it. I can get from point A to point B (the finished song) but am not gracefully. It also takes a ton of energy to do it right.

Where I really want to get is the fourth stage, unconscious competent, to go from point A to point B with ease and grace , to create songs without thinking about it. To date my best songs have been those that just flowed only took 2-3 hours to write from start to finish.

Unfortunately the only way to go from the third to fourth stage is practice and time. Yuk work...

Unlocking creativity

I listened to an excellent sermon on creativity at Mile Hi Church today given by the Rev. Barry Ebert. In addition to being a minister, Barry is also an excellent songwriter and we heard a few of his songs during the sermon. You can't ask for more at church.

I related his message to the creativity involved in songwriting. Some notes that I made were:

- "Everyone is creative and you create every day" - He used the example, if you ask 1st graders to put their hands up if they are an artist. Almost all do. If you ask the same question to 5th graders, a few will raise their hands. If you ask adults, on a rare occasion one will raise their hand. However, we are all artists in some way and are creative everything (dealing with kids, driving to work, getting dressed). You need to acknowledge and have faith that you are indeed creative.

- "The emotion of transformation is joy" - Bring joy into your life and things start to open up. Being joyful about yourself and the things you do, will open up your creativity.

- "Get yourself out of the way, opens the circuits" - You don't need to analyze, just believe that you are creative. Remove the doubts.

He also gave a quote that I'll remember before getting up on stage:

"It will be perfect when
Fear knocks on the door
Faith answers
There is no one home"

My take on this is that if you have faith that you are creative, a good musician, and a good performer then you will portray that to your audience. If you think otherwise, it will show.

I remember a comment from my first Song School, "you are a songwriter. You don't need to take a test or pass any criteria. Everyone is a songwriter."

Have faith, you are a songwriter!!!