The Desperation Mode of Lyric Writing

Oh yes, lyric writers get blocked, too! Then comes the desperation mode. You've been stuck. You've been uninspired. You haven't written anything in several days or more and you're dying to get out of your dry spell. And in your desperation you pick up a pen and just start writing, with or without the inspiration that so often drives  you. The next day you look at what you wrote and laugh so hard you fall to the floor.

I have definitely been there. And I've had plenty of those"I wrote THAT? And I thought it was GOOD?" moments. Even if no one sees it it still feels embarrassing. Those moments are good lessons in humility.

The question is how to get past that desperation and get back your full writing potential and ability. There are a few methods you could try that might help.

Free Writing

Don't let desperation control your writing! Free writing forces you to do what you can with your talent whether you feel inspired or not and may end up inspiring you in way that helps you overcome your dry spell. If you force yourself to free write for a good amount of time you'll probably come up with something you can use, even if it's only a line or two. If you were completely stuck on your writing before, then it's a move forward. And if you were just feeling uninspired something you wrote while you were free writing may end up giving you some fresh ideas. It's natural to occasionally feel uninspired or blocked, but allowing the mentality of "I don't know what to write anymore" sink in is the worst thing you can do. Reminding yourself that you don't knoe what to write sometimes is no way to push yourself back into your normal writing routines.

Writing Prompts

There are plenty of resources that provide writing prompts. If you're having trouble coming up with new ideas in your head, let these help you. Some online resourcrs for this are www.writingprompts.com and www.writersdigest.com. You can also find many idea and prompt books for writers in bookstores and online stores that sell books. While many prompts that are for writing in general are geared towards writing stories, most of these can still be helpful in generating ideas for lyrics.

Getting Back to the Basics

When was the last time you really thought about why you love writing and what motivates you to do it? Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to make our lyrics poetic or witty that we forget some of the basics about lyric writing. Remind yourself why you bother with it to begin with and the people that inspired you to have a deeper interest in songwriting. Give yourself a fresher perspective and allow yourself to enjoy writing lyrics again instead of stressing over it.

~Eliza