Get Over Your Songwriter's Block With This Simple Advice

Do you believe you are more creative than your peers, or do you feel others are more creative than you are? Does creativity seem like something you can learn, or is it just a random occurrence? And is there any way to practice creativity? How can it be done? Keep reading to find out how!

How amazing is inspiration? In one of my previous songwriting articles I showed readers why songwriting isn't just about getting inspired - it's also about learning and practicing the proper techniques so you can be ready when the inspiration train gets to the station. There's tons of articles out there where you can learn the proper techniques (okay, maybe not as many as I'd like there to be). But how can you practice creativity?

It's a misconception that inspiration is something that just appears out of thin air.  There's actually a number of ways that you can learn to develop your creativity and subsequent inspiration.

Not regularly getting inspiration is not the real issue here — it might surprise you, but the real issue is that you've been taught to suppress it. To see this for yourself, you just have to watch kids. If you have young kids in the family, go spend some time with them, pass them or play an instrument, and you'll see at some point they just make up songs out of nowhere.

And it doesn't stop there: every day they're going through many creative processes. But now compare how they play to kids older than 10. No longer do they create music. And really, there isn't that much else that's creative in their daily play.

So what's happening? In a way, it's being pushed away through schooling and the environment they're surrounded in (at least, within a North American context).

And if you haven't taken care of that environment, it's likely that your creative juices have been squeezed from you as well.

But it's still there, and you can still learn to extract it like you did when you were younger. Quite easily, actually.  But what can you do? Watch the video below, where I show a young songwriter how to take care of and release his creative flow — this way he doesn't have to worry about being creative because he'll just BE creative. 

So you see, it isn't all that difficult, and it can actually be fun! Once you pick up your guitar, you'll find that you don't have to force yourself to do this like you may others. If you have the option, try using this while playing with other musicians, and see what they have to say about your new ability in such short notice!

And don't forget to comment your story below!