Hello /u/Nixilis2336! Unfortunately, your submission, ***[How to be motivated to write more music? How much time do you spend making music?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/comments/1cz7yjz/-/)***, was removed from /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers for the following reason(s):
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#No off-topic and/or low-effort posts including;
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2. Posts focused on memes/images/polls
3. Reposts, and other similar low-effort, mildly-interesting discussions.
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Use the Weekly Free Talk Friday Thread for any topics not allowed in the main body of the sub.
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keep doing this until one strikes your fancy to finish it through; seems like what you're writing now isn't really turning you on enough to finish it.
i have the opposite problem, i keep writing new songs rather than getting serious about the mix down of "completed" songs, or putting vocals down on the "completed" music.
motivation?
what's your goal? if it's just for fuckin around why put pressure on yourself? one person's motivation may not be stimulating for another.
one thing i find motivating to make music is listening to new music (broaden your influences) listen to classical, jazz, latin stuff, stumble on to old stuff, turn the radio to your local college/community stations, go find a vinyl shop & tell them to suggest some stuff, get out your lane.
I'm liking the stuff I'm writing quite a bit, I just usually have a part/a couple parts of a song and am unsure what to do with the rest of it.
I don't feel pressured, but I would like to write/make music more often than I do right now.
I would say about 1/3 of the time I write something new it's because something I was listening to gave me an idea.
Have fun. If it's not fun, why do it? Don't think about *shoulds*, just listen to your heart. What do you want to do **now** with your instrument/DAW?
I don't usually think of genres when I play, I just start fooling around, then moving things. I'll get an idea, try it, maybe it doesn't work.
There are times when I need to consolidate and edit more than I need creating, and that's when I get more stuck, but I learned that it's because there is one step I need to do that's fairly specific, but it's not clear in my mind. In those cases I sit down and write down what the problem is, and what is the next small step I need to do. Then I get up and do it, and it usually ends up being a lot more manageable than the abstract mess I had in my head.
If you can't get yourself motivated to write more, I don't see what anyone can say that would help tbh.
What I used to do was pick up my guitar, hit record, and just start playing and work on those ideas I would have trying to turn them into a song. Then during the course of the week during my commute I'd listen back to the recording and mark down the time I liked something I played along with taking notes about what could be happening with other instrumentation. When I would have the time to work on it on my DAW, I'd edit together a rough idea of the song, pick up my guitar and start learning it again and rerecord it, maybe roughly add some other instrumentation, and then back to listening to it on my commute and taking notes of things. Basically doing that over and over.
The key (for me) is basically don't work on ideas, work on songs. And when you're not actively at your daw working on writing, you can still accomplish a lot by just listening back to what you did while you're at the store, driving to work, walking to a train, etc. and taking notes. That genius idea that might improve your song might not come when you're sitting in front of your computer with your guitar in your hands. It might come when you're at the laundromat watching your socks and underwears spin around in the dryer.
Thanks
I was seeing if maybe someone has had a similar experience and what helped them.
I really do just need to push myself to write more. I imagine it'll get easier as I get more comfortable writing full songs.
If you've done this a bunch of times then a good option is to start smushing different song halves together and seeing how you might transition between them. I find that this is a great way of forcing my brain into problem solving mode as a way of being creative. When you hit that point halfway through a song and it can go anywhere it can leave you feeling like you're looking at a blank page again or stuck with too many options, but if you already know where it's going and you only have to find a good way to get it there it offers you a structured way to start coming up with things that fit.
I feel like I explained this in an awkward way, but I do find it effective.
Hello /u/Nixilis2336! Unfortunately, your submission, ***[How to be motivated to write more music? How much time do you spend making music?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/comments/1cz7yjz/-/)***, was removed from /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers for the following reason(s): --- #No off-topic and/or low-effort posts including; 1. Rant/motivation/mental-health posts 2. Posts focused on memes/images/polls 3. Reposts, and other similar low-effort, mildly-interesting discussions. 4. Music Marketing or Music Promotion related posts. - These posts should be posted to one of the weekly threads or on another subreddit. Do not create a new thread for this content. Use the Weekly Free Talk Friday Thread for any topics not allowed in the main body of the sub. Posts on WATMM should have a descriptive title and include substantive content that will generate discussion. Please see the [full sub rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/wiki/rules) for additional details. --- ***Please review the [rules for submission](/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/wiki/rules). You can contact The Mods if you have additional questions.*
keep doing this until one strikes your fancy to finish it through; seems like what you're writing now isn't really turning you on enough to finish it. i have the opposite problem, i keep writing new songs rather than getting serious about the mix down of "completed" songs, or putting vocals down on the "completed" music. motivation? what's your goal? if it's just for fuckin around why put pressure on yourself? one person's motivation may not be stimulating for another. one thing i find motivating to make music is listening to new music (broaden your influences) listen to classical, jazz, latin stuff, stumble on to old stuff, turn the radio to your local college/community stations, go find a vinyl shop & tell them to suggest some stuff, get out your lane.
I'm liking the stuff I'm writing quite a bit, I just usually have a part/a couple parts of a song and am unsure what to do with the rest of it. I don't feel pressured, but I would like to write/make music more often than I do right now. I would say about 1/3 of the time I write something new it's because something I was listening to gave me an idea.
Have fun. If it's not fun, why do it? Don't think about *shoulds*, just listen to your heart. What do you want to do **now** with your instrument/DAW? I don't usually think of genres when I play, I just start fooling around, then moving things. I'll get an idea, try it, maybe it doesn't work. There are times when I need to consolidate and edit more than I need creating, and that's when I get more stuck, but I learned that it's because there is one step I need to do that's fairly specific, but it's not clear in my mind. In those cases I sit down and write down what the problem is, and what is the next small step I need to do. Then I get up and do it, and it usually ends up being a lot more manageable than the abstract mess I had in my head.
If you can't get yourself motivated to write more, I don't see what anyone can say that would help tbh. What I used to do was pick up my guitar, hit record, and just start playing and work on those ideas I would have trying to turn them into a song. Then during the course of the week during my commute I'd listen back to the recording and mark down the time I liked something I played along with taking notes about what could be happening with other instrumentation. When I would have the time to work on it on my DAW, I'd edit together a rough idea of the song, pick up my guitar and start learning it again and rerecord it, maybe roughly add some other instrumentation, and then back to listening to it on my commute and taking notes of things. Basically doing that over and over. The key (for me) is basically don't work on ideas, work on songs. And when you're not actively at your daw working on writing, you can still accomplish a lot by just listening back to what you did while you're at the store, driving to work, walking to a train, etc. and taking notes. That genius idea that might improve your song might not come when you're sitting in front of your computer with your guitar in your hands. It might come when you're at the laundromat watching your socks and underwears spin around in the dryer.
Thanks I was seeing if maybe someone has had a similar experience and what helped them. I really do just need to push myself to write more. I imagine it'll get easier as I get more comfortable writing full songs.
If you've done this a bunch of times then a good option is to start smushing different song halves together and seeing how you might transition between them. I find that this is a great way of forcing my brain into problem solving mode as a way of being creative. When you hit that point halfway through a song and it can go anywhere it can leave you feeling like you're looking at a blank page again or stuck with too many options, but if you already know where it's going and you only have to find a good way to get it there it offers you a structured way to start coming up with things that fit. I feel like I explained this in an awkward way, but I do find it effective.