Overcoming The Blank Page

The more you write the easier it will get, but there are some challenges that just never change. A blank page will always be a blank page. The songwriter, in essence, has to create something out of nothing. Or do they?

Remember that songs are not created in vacuums. They are influenced by your internal and external experiences. They are the songwriter’s response to the world at large. A blank page is not the same thing as a blank slate. We do not approach our book of songs empty handed; we approach it with reverence and offerings.

The first verse that I write is usually the worst one. I still have to write it because it just isn't possible to write a second verse first. I've tried, believe me. All of us writers have tried and you probably will too. To be a songwriter is to be an archeologist of the self and the only solution is to dig deep. The good stuff rests a few layers below in the strata. So don’t be discouraged if your first few scoops are nothing but dirt.

Don’t psych yourself out, just write something down. That’s your first shovel-full right there on the page. If your inner critic is throwing a temper tantrum then take a walk. Call it science or mysticism, walks always seem to generate the best ideas. I bet if you walk a couple of blocks that first line will find you. That line is like the big red “X” on your treasure map. That, right there, is where you should start digging.

As the great Shia Labeouf once said, “Just do it.”