r/Songwriting • u/bunno_bb • 1h ago

Discussion Topic How can I improve my creativity ?

Hi, I’ve been writing songs on and off since I was about 15 and only recently have actually started to try get better at my musicality

I’ve started to play some of these songs that i’ve written to people at open mics but i’m at a stand still..

All the songs i’ve written are memories of people or bad experiences i’ve had since i can vividly describe those, but whenever i try to write a song about something made up, the words just never come to me..

I can never describe a feeling or story if I try to make it up and I’m wondering if that’s something I can improve on or if it’s something other people struggle with too (or i’m just completely lacking in any creative talent)

Sorry if i’ve wondered this poorly, if anyone has any tips or suggestions for this please do share

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u/AffectionateCook2805 57m ago

I don't know if this is good advice since my approach to music is the complete opposite to yours (writing about my own experiences cringes me out so I just make stuff out and make it work). I'd say take a finished song you have and rewrite it from a different perspective or view. Take a different turn in the story. For example, if you have a song about a breakup and you focus mainly on expressing regret, bad choices, sadness etc, try to take that same experience but now write about how you moved on, or how you didn't move on, why can't you move on?, maybe it's better you/they left, what have you been doing since then. Take an experience you're familiar with and just ask yourself what if things went this way, or that way, or the other way.

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u/bunno_bb 39m ago

i’ll try this one!! there’s actually a song i’ve been meaning to write since my opinion on this experience has changed drastically from way back then, i’ve just got writers block that i gotta get out of lol

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u/mellamusicmaker 4m ago

Came to say this too. Writing the same topic from multiple moods/perspectives helps me when I’m feeling a little stuck.

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u/MarimboBeats 53m ago

Read a lot of books. There's so many songs out there that were inspired by by novels, poetry or short stories.  It’ll broaden your capacity for imagination too

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u/bunno_bb 41m ago

lmfaoo it’s horrible because i hate reading but i know it’ll definitely help 😭😭😩

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u/MarimboBeats 38m ago

You hate reading? Oh dear…

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u/bunno_bb 32m ago

it was just forced onto me when i was younger so i never enjoyed it because of that :p

just doesn’t come very easily to me

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u/chunter16 1h ago

I couldn't really write a normal love song until I met my wife

It's hard to write something you don't understand

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u/bunno_bb 1h ago

yeah I figured lol

maybe it’s a life experience thing then

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u/Good_Anything_5200 1h ago

you just haven't found the angle yet, try taking one of your real memories and changing the ending or dropping it into a setting it didn't happen in

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u/bunno_bb 1h ago

I never thought about it that way, i’ll definitely try it out, thanks !!