A Mixed Tape for Beating Writer's Block
For most people, writer’s block can be a huge issue. Whether
you’re staring at a blinking cursor while finishing a term paper, poem, or
perhaps the next great American novel, I feel your pain. Unlike freaks of
writing nature, like Woody Allen, who claims to never get writer’s block, I
experience it all the time. Getting started is always the hardest part for me.
Often, I’m not sure what I want to say, or if I even have anything to say at
all.
Usually I turn to music. Certain
songs just make me feel like I need to write; they can range from ones that I
feel are some of the best written to those that are just thematically
appropriate to my life, or what I want my life to be. Many times, I hear a
song, and it instantly becomes the soundtrack to some picture in my mind, and I
feel forced to write what I see down. I’d like to share some of the songs that
have helped me break through the wall of writer’s block. Coincidentally they
all folk songs, but that makes enough sense; they tell some of the best
stories.
I owe this
song a lot. I have no idea how many times I’ve listened to it; probably hundreds
of times, but I distinctly remember one time. I had wanted to write a
screenplay, but of course had no clue what the movie was to be about. I had my
music on shuffle as I stared at a blank notebook page when this song came on.
As soon as lead singer Tillman’s voice began to sing, I perked up and began to
write. By the time the four-minute song was over, I had an outline for about
half of a screenplay. When it ended, I turned off shuffle and decided to go
back to the beginning of the album, “Fear Fun.” Sure enough, about three songs
in, my outline was done. I was obsessed with the album for about a week after.
I’d love to make a film with “Fear Fun” as the soundtrack. J. Tillman, if
you’re down, hit me up!
This 8
minute epic tune is highlight of Fleet Foxes latest album, “Helplessness
Blues.”
It’s a song that could probably be sung over creepy
campfires in between discussions of family lineage and ghosts. I would say this
is one of the quintessential folk songs written in the last decade. I’ve
attempted to write songs that tell a story like this, but they never come out
this well, not even close — in fact, I always throw them in the trash — but the
point is the song makes me want to write; more precisely it pushes me to write
well
I heard
this song for first time when I watched The Royal Tenenbaums at age nine or 10.
The movie was over my head then, but that song stuck with me. I’m not sure if
there is a more perfect soundtrack moment than when Margot gets off the bus to
pick up Richie and the finger-picked guitar begins to play. Nico’s voice is so
haunting. If you find that you just can’t write anything, take a walk around
the block at night and listen to “These Days.” You won’t regret it.
Dylan is
one of the best songwriters of all time. This song from his debut, “The
Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan,” is one of his greatest. It’s packed with so much
material; an incredible amount is going on here. Dylan said that each line is
actually the beginning of a new song, but he didn’t think he’d ever have time
to write all of them so he just packed them all into one song. One of the lines
I find most interesting is: “I saw a new born baby with wild wolves all around
it.” The imagery here is palpable, few songwriters, if any, do this better than
Dylan.
I’m putting
this on the list at the risk of being cliché. It is one of my all
time favorite songs. To me, this creepy dream song is as good as it gets. Paul
Simon is one of my heroes, and all of Simon and Garfunkel’s songs mean so much
to me, but “The Sound of Silence” is on a whole other level. I Listen to this
almost every time I sit down to write seriously, especially when I am revising.
The story told in the song is so concise, so perfect. “People talking without
speaking/ people hearing without listening.” Lines like these make me want to
be a better writer. Paul Simon wrote this in his bathroom while the lights were
off and the water was running, if that not the coolest, most inspiring thing
ever, I’m not sure what is.
These are just some of the songs that work for me. I
encourage everyone to find ones that work best for them, but maybe you can give
these a try!
-William Ruof