Scheduled Inspiration

“How is it possible mark your calendar to be inspired?” I often get asked this question when I tell people what I do four, and sometimes five, days a week.

There's nothing more draining than showing up somewhere like a co-write and feeling like you've somehow failed because you don't feel inspired or creative. I've been there. And I learned something very important as a result.

At first I thought the key was coming up with some profound musical or lyrical idea to bring to every co-write. But I quickly ended up with more co-writes than "profound" ideas.

Thankfully, one of the days that I was short on ideas was a day where my co-writer and I ended up writing one of my favorite songs to this day, "Bare Feet" (track #2 on my EP, The Way I See Her). What I came to realize was that, instead of my initial song idea delegating the direction, in this situation the song grew organically as a truer collaboration.

I've actually erred on the opposite side of the spectrum, showing up to co-writes more often than not without any song title or lyric idea. But I've also realized there's a certain level of creative accountability that comes with taking ideas to co-writes. If I know I want to take an idea, then I'll keep my antennae up for things that inspire. And as John Wooden said, “Failing to prepare meant preparing to fail.”

So to answer the original question about marking my calendar for inspiration, I do it by showing up ready to be inspired rather than showing up pre-inspired. And that mindset keeps the anxiety levels way down.

Keep writing (and preparing),

Ben

Editing - the Key to Songwriting?

I used to wait for lightning to strike. And when I did find inspiration, I was afraid to change anything about the original way I would write a lyric or melody. I thought, "Who am I to mess with something that's been inspired?!"

As a result, I spent far more time creating than editing. I could just wait until an idea slapped me across the face and then go sit at the piano. The result was a lot of OK songs.

However, I’ve learned that it’s more important and beneficial to be willing to throw out my favorite line than to make the rest of the song suffer. In songwriting, everything is expendable. If a line doesn't support the song as a whole, there is a better way to say it.

With more experience comes the ability to edit on the fly. I've even stopped halfway through vocalizing a line because I realized it wasn't the right direction for the song. Even our initial instincts, when it comes to how a line should be written, are sharpened with practice. The stronger the editing muscle, the more effortless the creative process can become.

Keep writing (and editing),

Ben

Writing Tools - a Writer's Friend

There are two sides of the writing process - the actual art being created, and the way we capture and portray that art. Both sides of this coin are necessary. For example, the most beautifully written concerto suffers greatly if it isn't given a proper performance and recording. And what good is a great recording if the song is only mediocre?

Though tools are important in the writing process, it is essential to remember where new art actually comes from: inspiration. I am confident this inspiration is not found in digital 1s and 0s as much as it is found in nature's leaves and raindrops. As wonderful as the newest and shiniest recording program or studio compressor is, it will never provide the fuel for a fresh new song in the same way that organic life does.

Photo by Ton Rulkens. Used with permission.

I believe our tendency is to look to these tools for salvation when we create, rather than to be on the lookout for true inspiration. The result can often (but not always) be heard on the radio - a sonic masterpiece that wouldn't stand up on its own when performed solo on guitar or piano. Our challenge when it comes to writing songs is to always remember that the inspiration and the tools with which we capture this inspiration are separate, yet connected. The metaphor that comes to mind is this:

Songwriter = conductor
Song = train
Writing tools = tracks
Inspiration = coal/fuel

In the coming weeks and months I am going to talk in more detail about the specific tools that I have found helpful in my own writing process. And please feel free to clue me in on the tools you find useful!

Keep writing,

Ben

Physics Meets Photography

Though on the surface physics and photography don't have much to do specifically with songwriting, inspiration to write songs can be drawn directly from them.

Here's something I found inspiring: photographer Caleb Charland looked at a common thing like a houseplant and used his imagination to show us that plant in a new and exciting way. And isn't that what we try to do as songwriters? We try to see daily occurrences with a fresh perspective.

Photo by Caleb Charland.

Here's the explanation of how the artist managed to create this image of a growing plant (as quoted in Wired Magazine):

The initial spark of a match. A nail as it jitters toward a magnet. A bud on a plant that’s poised to grow into a branch. These moments of inception are often ephemeral to the point of being undetectable, but Caleb Charland manages to capture them, turning those flashes in the mind’s eye into thought-provoking photographs. 

His latest endeavor (working title: Node Project) focuses on those points on a plant from which leaves and branches sprout. “Each of the little nodes—they just felt like they could be an armature for an image,” he says. To create the effect shown here, Charland spray-painted a shrub black, then highlighted each node with glow-in-the-dark paint. Next, he stuck the plant in a ceramic pot and rotated it under a black light, exposing a sheet of 4 x 5 film to an illuminated pattern of potential growth. As Charland puts it, “I like the idea of taking something simple and ordinary and making it mesmerizing.”

Keep writing,

Ben