|
Written by Bruce Ellis
|
|
Sunday, 23 November 2008 |
Songwriting instructor Bruce Ellis brings professional tips on the craft of songwriting.
It’s ten to the hour and the psychiatrist looks sleepily at the clock. “Just stay awake”, she thinks to herself. “You are a professional”. Only ten more minutes to go in the session but it might as well be an eternity. Then she has a great idea and pulls out the oldest trick in the book – word association. She sits upright and says to her patient – a frustrated songwriter,
“OK, I’m going to say a word and you say the first thing that pops into your mind”.
“Potato?”… "brown”.
So far so good she thinks.
“Brown?”… “dog”.
“Dog?”… "fire hydrant”.
“Fire hydrant?… "water”.
“Water?”… "drink”
“Drink?”… “eat”.
“Eat?” … “food”.
“Food?” "…um…um…”potato?”
While hopefully none of us has succumb this drastically to a case of writer’s block, most of us can relate to the problem of sometimes having to prime the creative pump. How many times have you risen up from your creative muse mobile thinking that you’re totally washed up as a songwriter and you should take up knitting tea cozies?
Let’s assume for this exercise that the Lord has been gracious and prompted you with a general thought but you are struggling with filing out the idea. What I like to do is what I call “idea farming”. I’m sure there are other names and variations but here is basically how it works.
Take out a blank piece of paper and in the middle write down the one word that best describes the general direction in which you intent to go. It may not look like much but this is the seed from which you shall grow a bountiful crop.
Now begin to play the word association game mentioned above and write down the first five or six words that come to mind in a wide circle around your seed. You have now just watered your seed and growth is already apparent. Whatever you do, don’t harvest yet. Be patient.
Next go to each one of these words and do the same thing, writing another handful of words around it. Your page should now begin to look like a vernacular solar system.
You could keep going with this exercise until the supper bell rings but usually after a few generations of growth you’ll begin to see the weeds coming to the surface that are worth abandoning. Essentially these are tangents that have run out of gas and are far too removed from the original word to pursue. At the same time you’ll also begin to see connected thoughts and paths emerging. These are the seeds that have sprung roots and are worth nurturing. Continue to water and grow these ideas and in no time you’ll find yourself struggling with which of your ideas to discard.
If, after repeated attempts you’re still staring at a blank page, you have of two options. You could either lift a well-known psalm or sign up for a series of 10:30 am sessions.
Have fun.
|
