Setting up a strong music writing routine can help your entire songwriting and production flow.
Even though the creative chaos is a cliché often confirmed, implementing some routine within a writing scheme can boost the quality and output.
Having a little mental “swiss-watch” routine going can always help the process, especially if you have outsiders involved.
So here are some ideas:
Structure is transferable
Structure in the way you plan your creative routines can reflect in the way your musical output is structured.
You might be stuck hovering around certain topics and themes, craving new direction. Or maybe you feel like some songs are fragmented in the way they are written, missing a vital point or message.
The same mechanisms that help you structure your overall routine can help structure your music and the things you want to say. Mostly it’s about occupying a birdseye view of things, zooming out and taking all the pieces into account.
Road blocks dissolve
Knowing that a given music writing routine lets you work continuously on a piece of music can ease the whole process.
If things don’t seem to pan out on a certain day or session, you can relax because you’re aware of the other chances you’ll get. All within your fixed writing routine.
Relaxing within a creative process is often about not laying too much weight on the outcome of a given session.
Laying out a grand music writing routine can compartmentalize your efforts, like being aware of the small steps on the way up.
Planning your music writing routine with externals
If you have your writing session scheduled, you can plan outside involvement around these timeframes.
Grooving into a routine also means learning about yourself and the way you produce output.
As soon as you’re aware of the way you create, you might also be able to plan beforehand.
This let’s you make calculated decisions on when to call-in external collaborators, timing sessions in a well planned and realistic manner.
Constant process overview
Working within a defined music writing routine let’s you revisit the state of a process on a constant basis.
It’s really easy to spend loads of time on details. It often turns mediocre output into great creative work. In terms of process scheduling and planning, it’s vital to keep a broad overview though.
Working within a writing routine let’s you measure certain advancements you achieve.
This let’s you stay on top of things, negotiating with yourself wether defined timeframes and deadlines will work for you and the way you progress.
Less loose ends
Starting a song and loosing the line of thought across various pauses can be a danger of expansive writing schemes.
A routine helps you stick to one piece of music until it’s done, or at least within a line of thought until its formed.
This keeps you from aggregating half-finished, musical fragments.
It also delivers a constant reality-check on the productivity of your outcome. Wether you are commencing in the speed you were aiming for or if you might have to slow down to reach a greater form of quality.
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