Procrastination
By RavenousRaven
Lets get the joke over and done with: We’ve been meaning to write this blog entry about procrastination for ages but could never quite get around to it – I know, I know, don’t give up the day job…
We held a poll a while ago on RavenousRaven to find out what were the top problems being faced by songwriters today. To our surprise procrastination came out on top by a convincing margin.
So what is procrastination? Essentially it is the problem of always putting something off and not being able to get around to it. So it seems that the world is full of songwriters or potential songwriters who are just finding it really hard to sit down and write.
So what causes procrastination and specifically what causes it amongst songwriters and why is it so common? We suspect a few things are going on here:
- Songwriting can be very hard or more specifically writing a song that lives up to our expectations can be very hard. And there’s the problem – if our own internal critic is expecting an “Imagine” or “Hallelujah” to pop out every time we put pen to paper then it can be rather daunting to go anywhere near any pens or paper and much easier to turn on the TV to watch Simon Cowell tell someone else how useless they are.
- It’s a commonly held misconception that you can’t learn songwriting – you’re either born with the talent or you aren’t. So if you find that the songs that you write aren’t up there with Bohemian Rhapsody, what does that mean? If you believe in the ‘born with it’ theory then this clearly means that you weren’t born with it and you’ll never be able to write a decent song. That’s such a powerful negative thought that it’s enough to scare you off songwriting for life! Back to Mr Cowell…
- If you tell yourself “I’m going to spend 7 hours songwriting today and I’m going to write the best song I’ve ever written and it’s going to be a big hit and make me a fortune” then you are putting an awful lot of pressure on yourself. It’s going to seem like a daunting task and it will become very easy to find a whole lot of other things to do instead. Suddenly doing that mountain of washing up seems curiously attractive…If you don’t start straight away when you intended to start you’ll start feeling bad. If the first few things you come up with don’t sound great you’ll start feeling bad. The more you feel bad, the less likely you are to start or to continue. In fact you are quite likely not to start at all or start and then give up after quite a short period of time.
So what can we do about it? Here’s our handy tips…
- Don’t set your expectations too high either in the amount of time you are going to commit or in the quality of work you are going to produce. Both of these things can pile the pressure on and sound too much like hard work and hard work is quite easy to put off (“I’ll just wash the cat first…”)
- Perhaps just promise yourself that you’ll do 5-10 minutes of songwriting now and see how it goes. Once you start you probably won’t want to stop.
- Instead of committing yourself to writing a whole song now, break the process down into small steps (chorus, verse 1, verse 2, bridge – or lyrics, chords melody etc). These will seem a lot more manageable and easier to get into. Again, once you start you may begin feeling inspired and do a lot more than initially intended (although it’s fine if you don’t).
- A lot of people end up with a great number of half written uncompleted songs and a very small number of completed songs. Try setting yourself a deadline to complete a particular song.
- Another common misconception is that motivation comes before action. If you sit around waiting for motivation or inspiration it may never come… Motivation and inspiration usually come AFTER action! i.e. just start NOW even if you don’t feel like it. Once you start you’ll probably start enjoying it and want to continue.
- If you are new to songwriting, allow yourself to be a beginner – allow your songs to be poor/mediocre. If you were learning to fly you wouldn’t be expecting to be able to loop the loop on your first outing. This will take a lot of the pressure off. Likewise if you are an intermediate songwriter allow your songs to be average with some being poor and some being inspired. Even if you’re an experienced songwriter you’ll still end up writing some duff songs.
- You CAN learn songwriting. There are a lot of good books, courses, workshops etc out there. It also takes a lot of practise. When you start you won’t be very good but as you learn and practise (by writing LOTS of songs) you will improve. Gradually your ratio of ‘bad’ songs to ok songs to good songs will improve – but it does take time and effort and a mind open to learning about the craft of songwriting.
- Remember songwriting is a creative pastime and supposed to be fun! The best creativity usually comes when we allow ourselves to be playful and enjoy ourselves. Putting a lot of pressure on ourselves as discussed above can only dampen down our creativity. Yes it can be hard work sometimes – but even hard work can be fun!
RR
So do you agree or disagree with what we’ve written? Got any handy tips yourself for overcoming procrastination? Have you tried one of the above tips out – did it work or not? Leave us a comment below.
Great article – I think we’ve all been there (procrastination) I find some songs take shape much faster than others – I often have bits that have no lyrics that stay lying around for ages before something inspires their use – I remember a piece that was almost a whole song but no lyrics worked with it until a friend was telling me about her brother in Iraq and the ‘Inshallah’ attitude – then suddenly it all fell together..
My point is – sometimes it’s worth recording or hanging on to bits that don’t seem to be going anywhere – some people believe if the song doesn’t come quickly it shouldn’t come at all.
Some songs take longer to come than others – I don’t think there’s a correlation to quality.
“A lot of people end up with a great number of half written uncompleted songs and a very small number of completed songs. Try setting yourself a deadline to complete a particular song.”
That’s me. And now that you mention it, when I have had a real deadline (only 2-3 times I can remember) I finished the song. And no they weren’t perfect (but good enough for their debut) and I did go back and edit – but they were done!
Thanks for the reminder, RR.
I’ve “tricked” myself many a time with setting a time limit when I didn’t “feel” like writing and then giving myself permission to stop if nothing comes of it. It’s amazing how it works, I come up with something worth continuing and I keep going past the “deadline”!
yep. I feel like you climbed into my head and collected my thoughts on this matter. I think the expectations to write a great (impossible) song stop me more than anything…
I love the idea of the 5 to 10 minute goal. I think I can trick my brain into thinking this is a no-pressure opportunity to just get some lyrics and notes on paper – just have a mind-ooze for a minute. Then hopefully the muse will jump into place and get running!!!
I too procrastinate because I don’t like to sing on my demos and its very difficult finding quality singers (unless I pay for a pro demo singer) which can be costly and going to a studio to record. But I really enjoy reading the article, give me a good prospective of myself. Many examples from the article spreaks/or as I should say sings to me.
I particularly liked the part about motivation coming after action. I’ve often noticed this to be the case! Often a perceived lack of motivation is caused more by fear or uncertainty than actually not being motivated. For this reason, I’ve scheduled 2 hours of songwriting/composition into my daily routine. I just do it, regardless of how motivated I’m feeling. Some days are pretty much a wash, but some are quite productive. It works!
I can write music daily and quickly but lyrics stump me every time. My inner critic is working overtime. I haven’t tried it yet but some friends have had some great success with “immersion composition” where they write as many songs in a short period of time as possible and come together later to review the results. The timeframe forces you to override the inner critic. Here’s a good article explaining it… http://www.eastbayexpress.com/gyrobase/writers__unblocked/Content?oid=803416&page=1
I was literally trying to find *anything* to do other than start recording/finish writing my song, which is nearly completely written, when I found this article. I am a terrible procrastinator when it comes to writing and recording my songs.
I really like your second suggestion – (* Perhaps just promise yourself that you’ll do 5-10 minutes of songwriting now and see how it goes. Once you start you probably won’t want to stop.)
This is almost always the case for me. I think I will try and schedule in 5-10 minutes of songwriting here and there into my week, rather than 1 or 2 hour slots. It takes off the pressure. Thanks for the suggestions. Really enjoyed reading the article.
This article was very useful. I tend to be a songwriter who has to be inspired. I can’t force it, but I do have some little games I play with myself. I will say, just do the first verse today and that’s all. Then I sing it & record it on my 8-track to save it and play it back. After I have heard it a few times, usually I want to continue it. I may start with a chorus first or whatever my initial idea was for the song. Sometimes the initial idea evolves into something totally different, but that’s fine too. Keep a small notepad with you to write down ideas and lyrics that come to you. I had an idea in church yesterday and had forgotten my notepaid, so I had to quickly memorize it (which isn’t easy when the minister is talking, ha ha!) I also use the Voice Notes Recorder feature on my Blackberry if I am not in a public place. For my car I have a small handheld recorder I bought at Radio Shack for about $20. In other words, once those ideas do come…capture them!
I tend to procrastinate when it comes to the words of my songs, and also recording the demo. To help with lyric writing, I post the lyric onto a secure web site so I can log in and keep working on it wherever I am.
I’m a firm believer in not forcing a song out. If the inspiration isn’t there, no use forcing it. I have never written a song I was proud of by forcing words to rhyme, it has to mean something to me personally.
The other thing is getting somewhere quiet where I can create. This is something that adds to my procrastination, not feeling comfortable to work out melodies when people are home and can hear me. There is always something to distract us eh.
Interesting comments. I’ve never been here before and I don’t yet know anything about the author of this post. But here is a few things about what I do.
I have struggled may times with procrastination and have found a remedy for it. I host a local Songpull up here in NH USA and it is basically a stage for songwriters to come out once a month and perfrom their most recent song. Now this event is not for polished songs although many are quite good and finished depending on the artist.
Although I am not the founder of this concept I do operate the largest songpull in the world supporting almost 100 different local songwriters.
I encourage songwriters all the time as many are quite unsure of themselves and the quality of their songwriting. But something intersting happens by being in a room of songwriters and that is, each songwriter is quite different from one another and once you witness that your songwriting has more to do with your personal approach and style.
It’s not really about writing the next biggest hit. It’s about how you as the person can use music to convey your thoughts and passion through music.
Many songwriters come from many different angles and they shine when they are most themselves. When they try to write something to be comercially accepted they will most likely fall on their face if their song isn’t genuinely who they are as an artist.
Personally for myself when I sit and try to write a song it is never songs like my favorite artists. I just let the instrument and my musical spirit take over and what ever comes, out comes out.
I often question why my approach always seems to be connected and it may not reflect what I would consider optimal entertaining to the masses. But my fellow songwriters all agree it is an area that is where I am the strongest in my passion.
If you are a true artist your songs will “Never” be up to par. You will ALWAYS feel that you can improve it. That is the evidence that your music should be heard and not isolated from the world. The world will breathe more life into it and show you where the beauty lies.
So many times I will second guess something about a song and after a few performances someone will come up to me and that section was the best part of the song. So you are not always your best critic. In fact you will often be the least helpfull to the direction of your music. But your fans will help guide you if you let them.
Don’t be affraid to throw something out there that you don’t feel is ready. You will only grow as a songwriter by doing so.
Many records have only 1 hit song on it which means the other 12 are fillers that don’t quite cut it. So if you look at each song as nothing more than a path to one good song then plowing through songs 12 to 14 songs is far better for your growth than to limit yourself on trying to fing that one.
But the truth as any artist will tell you The song you think is your best is not often the best to your fans. In fact many songs you think of little value may be the best songs according to your fans.
So don’t hold back. Throw it all out there and see what sticks. Stop fussing with stumbling blocks and just go arounf them and finish your songs. But most importantly, get them out there.
Here some of my songwriters doing exactly as I just described. http://www.juicerocks.com/videos
Might I suggest allowing yourself to write the first draft of a song? Take advantage of the revision process in order to get it to a point that is in line with your high standards. @Duran Harlan
I agree with everything said in this article… I’m a heavy procrastinator which is sad for me cause when i sit down and get to it i get people telling me that I’m pretty damn good. I love to write but i think I’m too critical of my writing so i don’t write as often as i would like to cause i don’t wanna write down what i consider crap. I know that sounds bad but i have already set a high standard for my future writings and i don’t know how to reset it. but again i agree with everything said in this blog and I’m gonna definatly try some of the tips and tricks i read..
Holla @ ya boi
Duran Harlan
I like the tips, especially about setting time limits for yourself. I do that regularly (and often times forget to do it) and it really helps your creative mind work faster than if you just randomly sit down and start messing around without a clear purpose on the time.
Though, sometimes it’s really useful/fun to just mess around with no end in sight
Here are some other things that work for me:
* you have a riff, a progression, a melody, a hook and it doesn’t seem to go anywhere? give it a name… I find it comes alive once it has a name and the other aspects of the “song” start to reveal themselves
* you’re inventing other parts to a song that you feel is solid? imagine a big house that this song lives in… walk through the house and “listen” in on each room for each part: the bass room… yeah it’s deep & hard; the drum room… lots of clicking; the violin room… quiet in there; you get the idea…
* just like in writing a good short story or play or even once scene in a movie, ask yourself *why* does this song do what it’s doing? instead of just “painting a picture”, tell the story of how you or the subject of the song is changed from beginning to end — and what was the motivation to make & perform this song? why does it matter to you?
* cut-ups: take some previous material or material from others and cut them up to randomly paste them together — this will usually spark something completely different but can get the creativity flowing
* write a lot and “fail fast” – even if it doesn’t sound right at first, you don’t have to be perfect with every line. you can always go back and rewrite parts
I am going to read this tomorrow. Jon Hanson, songwriter