4 Strategies to Finish Your Music Writing Projects

If you are frustrated by unfinished songs and pieces you’re working on: You're not alone. This is one of the most common frustrations I hear from composers, songwriters, and producers that are newer to the music writing. It’s usually one of two things:

1) You’ve written a little something, maybe 8 measures or so, and you can’t figure out where to go next, or, 2) your piece seems disjointed - it's just a random collection of ideas. Both of these will stop progress dead in its tracks.

I feel your pain. I've got a full box of unfinished music sitting in my studio. Here are four strategies that I use to finish my music projects.

1. Overcoming Perfectionism

Perfectionism is one of the biggest roadblocks to finishing music projects. It makes you constantly second-guess your work, leading to endless revisions and even creative paralysis. To combat perfectionism:

• Shift Your Mindset: Aim for progress rather than perfection. Understand that no piece of music will ever be flawless, and that’s okay. (would we even like it if it was perfect?)

• Set Time Limits: Give yourself a deadline to finish sections of your music. This creates a sense of urgency that can help you move past minor imperfections.

2. Zooming Out for Perspective

Another common issue is getting too caught up in the details, losing sight of the overall structure. If you find yourself obsessing over perfecting every single element without considering the bigger picture, try these steps:

• 30,000 Feet: Before diving into the details, create a broad outline of your piece. Decide on the overall flow and structure, and then work on the individual sections.

• Create a “scale model”: I like to use two tools here: The Short Score, and the Timeline. Both of these allow me to put all of my ideas in physical space. Use these tools to visualize your piece from start to finish. This helps ensure all parts fit together cohesively and prevents well-polished sections from feeling out of place.

• Develop and Transition: A huge mistake I see from beginners all of the time is abrupt transitions from one idea to the next. Focus on developing your main ideas and creating smooth transitions between sections to maintain a unified composition.

3. Limiting Your Material

It might seem counterintuitive, but trying to use too much material can be a major roadblock. Many composers feel the need to generate numerous ideas to fill a piece, but this often leads to disjointed music. Instead:

• Focus on 1-2 Main Ideas: Most successful pieces are built around a few core themes or motifs. Concentrate on developing these ideas thoroughly.

• Development Techniques: Expand, alter, reharmonize, and orchestrate your main ideas to create variety and maintain interest without introducing new material.

• Creating Relationships: Ensure that your main ideas relate to each other. Use contrasts in rhythm, dynamics, or register to create a sense of unity and progression.

4. Commit to Consistent Practice

Finishing music requires a commitment to sit down and write regularly. It’s not about finding a magic cure but developing a habit and toolbox to overcome common challenges.

• Consistent Practice: Set aside dedicated time for composing and stick to it. Regular practice helps build momentum and keeps you engaged with your work.

• Feedback and Revision: Don’t be afraid to seek feedback and make revisions. Use criticism constructively to improve your music and move forward.

This isn’t every single obstacle, but they are the ones I’ve found to be the most common - address these, and you’ll finish more of your music writing projects.

Finish Your Music: A Free Email Course

If you're ready to dive deeper and gain more insights, I’ve written about all of these topics in greater detail in a 5 day email course. It provides practical exercises and detailed strategies to help you overcome these challenges and complete your musical works. It’s completely free, and it will only take about 10-15 minutes per day. These are strategies and exercises that I use in my own writing process - and I think you will find them useful as well.

Enroll Here: https://jesse-strickland.mykajabi.com/finish-more-music-enrollment

How To Start (Over)

I’m trying to start writing music again - after about 6 months off. 

I didn’t mean for it to happen…but sometimes life happens. And I think we have to be okay with that. 

It’s an interesting to be working through. It’s not like I’m doing something I don’t like, or even learning something new.

This is a journal entry, of sorts, into my journey of starting over. I’ve got three thoughts that I hope will help you if you are in the same place.

1. Start Small

If you’ve been on an extended hiatus from composing, you might want to just try jumping back into your old routine. Let me tell you from my recent experience - it doesn’t work. It’s like I was a marathon runner and then I did nothing but sit on the couch and eat potato chips for five years…and my first day back I tried to run 20 miles…at my old pace.  

Taking a break is fine, a slow start after a break is fine.

So, I’ve been trying to write for 5 minutes a day. Only 5 minutes. Whatever I get done in that time is what I get done. I’m going to stay at 5 minutes until I feel like I can write longer.

As you can imagine, not much can get done in 5 minutes. And that’s okay. But, it didn’t take many days until I had forgotten about time and I was going for 10 - 15 minutes.

So - give yourself the grace to start small.
2. Establish a Writing Routine

Once you’ve gotten back in the habit of showing up every day and writing - establish a writing routine.

Now. A quick caution here. If you had a writing routine before your hiatus, it might not work this time around. Your life situation may have changed, the amount of time you can devote may be smaller. And also, this is just the second step after ‘write for 5 minutes.’ So, establish a writing routine that will facilitate your composing where you are right now.

Establish when and where you will write. How long are these sessions? What do you want to accomplish? Remember to be realistic. Your answer here shouldn’t be: “three hours, and I’m going to write a 30 minute concerto today.” But maybe like, “a 30 minute session where I’ll write the A theme for a solo piano piece”

3. Find a Community

Composition can be a lonely sport. You just sit at your desk, just you and your thoughts. It can be very isolating. You also might have the pervasive thoughts:

“I’m the only one going through this.”

“Maybe I just don’t have it anymore”

“Everything I write is garbage”

I promise, there are other composers are feeling this. (I’d also like to say parenthetically, your identity as a composer isn’t based on productivity) A really good strategy for combatting this is to find a community of musicians and composers who are trying to learn and get better together.

That’s what I’m seeking to create with my new YouTube channel. You can check out more about that here.
There are also a good number of online communities that you could plug into. The /r/composer subreddit is a pretty good one - you can ask all of your questions, ask for feedback on your work, and see that there are others who are in your boat with you.

So, if you’re trying to start over, don’t get discouraged. Try these three things. And remember, it takes time.

Remember why you fell in love with composition in the first place. And just write.

Embracing Chaos in the Writing Process

The composition process is not a straightforward process. It's quite messy.

But we often want it to be streamlined and efficient. "If I just do x, y, and z; I'll have a piece of music." It's even more frustrating when we look at other composers, and it seems effortless for them. You hear stories of songwriters that wrote a song in 15 minutes, while you're sitting there dealing with writer's block, and you think there is a problem with you:

"Maybe if I was just a better composer, I wouldn't be struggling with this"

The problem is not your skill level, but your expectations. The chaos in the composition process isn't a flaw, but a feature. The goal isn't to get rid of the mess, but to use that mess to our advantage. After all, you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, right?

Here are three ways that we can embrace the chaos in the composition process.

1. Write What You Know First

Notation Softwares, by their nature, force you into linear writing starting at measure 1.

Recording softwares do as well. When you open up a new project, there is a clear expectation that you are working from left to right, and you need to know what you're doing every single measure.

But that's not always what you know. You may only have a lyric fragment or a motif, and you don't know exactly when you're going to use it. Don't give into the temptation to start at measure 1. Write what you know first, and then work your way out from there.

That's one of the reasons I like working on paper - I can work more freely in space. I will either work on large orchestra paper where I can spread out my thoughts, or in a little moleskine notebook that I can carry on the go with me. Both of these options allow me to sketch out ideas without needing to polish them. And they are both helpful when it comes to [starting a new piece].

2. Get To The Double Bar

Speaking of polishing an idea: Don't worry about perfecting any one section - get to the double bar. What do I mean? As quickly as possible, sketch out the entire piece (without having every single answer to every question). Think of this as scaffolding which is set up so that real construction can occur.

Before you start this, it can be nice to have a plan. A rough outline of the structure of the work. I will usually do a timeline before moving on to the short score (where I sketch it out from end to end). Note, with this sketch, I will still work outwards from what I know, filling in the gaps as I figure them out. Still don't feel the pressure to work from left to right.

Don't disrupt the flow of getting your ideas out of your head by tweaking minute details. It's difficult to just let this happen: "what if that idea doesn't make sense? what will the cellos play in that section? How is the voicing of this chord?"

All of this can feel very chaotic - almost like you have no control anymore. But it's a good thing - you are making progress, even if you've made a mess.

START WRITE NOW (Online Course)

Learn to write your first song or piece in the next 30 days!

I’ll walk you step-by-step through the entire composition process with over 5 hours of writing instruction.

Don’t wait - start write now!

3. Let the Piece Tell You Where It Wants to Go

Which brings us to the 3 way to embrace chaos: let the piece tell you where it wants to go.

Your original idea might not be the best for the piece. You've got to be willing to toss out the playbook if the piece tells you it wants to go somewhere else.

There's a saying in writing that you need to be willing to cut your best ideas if it isn't what is best for the project. Even if it's the idea you thought this entire work would be based on.

I once wrote a piece and I wanted this big climax, followed by this one particular chord progression that would be a very soft pianissimo - it's the first idea I had for the piece, and I thought I was working everything else up to this one moment. But, when I actually finished the work and listened to it - I knew immediately, it didn't work. It was really difficult to cut it from the final score - but it was best for the piece.

Often, one of the reasons that the writing process feels chaotic is because we are demanding order where there is none.

further reading

Scaling the Wall: A Composer's Guide to Overcoming Writer's Block

Check out my new eBook!

Even though there’s probably not any hard research on it, I feel pretty confident stating that exactly 100% of composer’s throughout the course of history have experienced Writer’s Block. Put it right there on the list of inevitables with death and taxes.

I know this is a topic on a lot of composer’s minds. Almost every single masterclass or lecture I’ve given to a group of composers, one of the questions at the end is always about dealing with writer’s block. It’s perhaps the question I get asked most often.

I have certainly dealt with it more times than I would like - I feel like my ADHD might impact the frequency. And somehow, each and every time it feels like reinventing the wheel to get out of it. So, for the last few years, I’ve been meticulously documenting exactly what has happened when I fell into writer’s block, what I did to get out of it, and what I did to maintain creativity.

And today, I’m excited to announce that I have compiled all of those strategies into a step-by-step guide, and I’ve put that guide into an eBook for all composer’s to use the next time they inevitably fall into writer’s block.

We’ll look at 1) how to get out of writer’s block, 2) the importance of mental health and creating a healthy relationship with your work, and 3) strategies for maintaining creativity.

All of the things in this eBook are strategies that I personally use in my daily life as a composer, and I think you will find this guide immensely helpful.

So if you are stuck in the pit of writer’s block, desperately looking for a ladder to scale the wall, check out this guide.