Break Through the Noise: 5 Proven Tips to Crush Writer’s Block and Ignite Your Creativity

Writer’s block — the creative’s kryptonite. You sit down, open up your DAW of choice, all excited to create.

Annnnnnnd…nothing.

The riffs won’t come out as you aimlessly noodle on your guitar, hoping for some inspiration to strike.

I’ve been here too, my friend. More times than I’d like to admit, actually. But fear not. Over the last 10 years of producing bands and creating, I’ve found ways to shatter writer’s block and created sonic goodness out of what appears to be thin air.

→ “How the hell do you write riffs like that?”

→ “What riff are you gonna pull out of your a** this time?”

It seems like I hear some variation of this comment more frequently when I’m in a session with an artist, or even my own band. It’s really not that complicated, and I’m about to share the not-so-secret sauce with you. Hopefully, these 5 tips will overcome that pesky writer’s block and get you writing your next #1 single.

And if you’re not a creative, stick around anyways, because these 5 tips can be applied to other crafts as well and you might get a few takeaways.

Music. Listen to it. A lot of it.

Any song, any genre. Explore new genres, listen to the top 40, give your Daylist a spin. Most of my inspiration for a project usually comes from outside of the genre I’m working in. For example, my old hardcore band, Dead Wing, had a song called “Daisy”. The main riff is catchy, and was inspired by a country lick.

Listen to a lot of music, and don’t be afraid to pull up Spotify during a session.

Rip off every influence.

I can’t take credit for this one. This one came from an interview I watched with Phil from Pantera, where I’m pretty sure he said this verbatim. In tandem with listening to other artists, don’t be afraid to take bits and pieces from their works. That’s how you develop a unique sound as a musician. I’m not saying directly rip them off, but pull some influence.

Maybe your melody is inspired by Polyphia, but your main chord progression is from a Morgan Wallen song, and maybe you like this one soundscape from a Bring me the Horizon song, and the drums from the new Kublai Khan record.

→ For the record, that sounds like a pretty cool song. I might have to try that.

The Loop Library

Some DAW’s come with some kind of loop library. Go through the sounds and see if anything sticks out to you — a rhythm, a melody, an ambient pad. Anything that puts you in a mood. If you watched the Jelly Roll documentary on Hulu, he can be seen doing this with some writers when writing for Ballads of the Broken. You’d be surprised at what can come of just a simple sound loop.

The Tone Zone

This one is for the guitarists. Switch up your tone! Instead of pulling up Archetype Gojira X, as tempting as it is, pull up a different amp. Try a Marshall, or a clean tone of some variety, play with effects, try a different tuning. Just like a change of scenery, this can breathe new life into your productions.

Songwriting: Unplugged

You really want to know where a majority of my song ideas come from? My acoustic guitar. Again, credit to Corey Taylor for this one, who said that a majority of Slipknot songs were written on acoustic and then arranged for the band. I have recordings up the wazoo of just riffs, licks, and chord progressions from playing acoustic guitar.

Bonus tip: Shell out the Idea

My last tip is a big one. Once you have an idea, just complete the basic song idea from beginning to end. Some of the parts may not make sense, transitions into different sections may need work, but the idea here is to finish it. Don’t give up on the idea, because as you work through the song, more ideas will branch off of it. I’ve had sessions where the final product was completely different than the original idea. Stick with it, I promise it’ll be worth it.

I hope that these tips help fuel your creativity and act like creative dynamite for that writer’s block. Try these out and let me know if they work for you!

Work Hard. Riff Harder.

Paps.

Stuck on Your Next Track or Looking for a Creative Boost?

Whether you need help refining your ideas or taking your sound to the next level, I’m here to collaborate. I help musicians & creatives take their ideas into full scale productions. Let’s build something together – from writing new riffs to crafting a custom website for your music. Simply reply to this email to set up a call with me.