White screen syndrome, on Freelance Switch
KeithHandy posted in Composing, So You Want..., Songwriting, Tools on October 24th, 2007
Here’s a short but well-articulated article about overcoming writer’s block, or as it’s referred to in the article, “white screen syndrome”. I think the general ideas are applicable to writing music and lyrics too. (We could call it “blank tape syndrome” or something.)
Excerpt:
My favourite method of getting something on the white screen is to just write what’s going through my head on the subject – then revise afterwards. I see it as a combination of stream-of-consciousness writing and Ann Lamont’s “shitty first draft.”
You know the subject matter, so just write. Usually it can be modified into something useful at the end and who knows, maybe you’ll find a few great sentences you wouldn’t have written if you were trying to stay professional.
I’ve written a few articles entirely like this and only had to edit out all the obscenities.
Here is the Anne Lamott (not “Ann Lamont”; hopefully FS will correct that soon) passage they’re referring to: an excerpt from Bird by Bird, which I hadn’t heard of before, but was curious enough to do a search on. (It’s awesome, by the way — except that as a mouse person, I would prefer she used something other than cruelty to mice in the visualization part at the end — regardless, don’t skip this one!)
And here are some notes that a fellow named Kyle took, summarizing Bird by Bird. Don’t sit back and let authors reap all the benefits of this stuff; how can you apply it to your music?
October 24th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
improvitaping, baby. improvitaping. : )
red means go.
good article! : )
October 25th, 2007 at 7:23 am
I had to read Lamont in college. ‘Writing Down the Bones’ by Natalie Goldberg is much better, in my opinion. But they’re both great.
Cheers,
-JCE
October 25th, 2007 at 8:38 am
I’ll be at the library this evening for a filmmakers meeting (always trying to horn in on those filmmakers), so I’ll probably look for both books. I don’t really seem to have a block, mind you, as you can probably tell by spending several hours on this website. ;) But I am interested in other people’s take on how to get the ball rolling when it’s not, and most of what I’m finding seems to coincide with my philosophy of starting with something crappy and going from there.
October 25th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Yeah. Both books really push the idea of just get the damn faucet running, even if it is sludge from the bottom of the sewer. Keep it running long enough and it’ll start to clear up.
I have a problem where I get too many balls in the air and then I don’t give any of them enough attention.
Cheers!
October 26th, 2007 at 8:56 am
Well, I didn’t see either of them, and I was in the section where all the books about “how to write” were. I suppose I could have looked them up to see if they were somewhere else (or out), but before I knew it it was just about 6:30, time for the meeting.
October 26th, 2007 at 9:01 am
And I’m not touching the “balls in the air” one.