Sometimes when selecting music for Sunday morning services at the churches where I have had the privilege of doing this task, I will think to myself, I wish there was a hymn about this passage of Scripture, or I wish I could find a hymn to compliment this topic in the minister’s sermon. When this happens, I make a note. I know I won’t have to write a song and for my husband to have it set to music for Sunday morning, but it gives me something to work on for another time.
I also find reading Christian books such as devotionals, Bible studies, books written by pastors on topics of concern to believers and so on to be a source of inspiration when I just can’t seem to write. Often God will use their writing to inspire me and, if He chooses not to, I have put my time to good use.
Often when I can’t seem to get motivated to write, I listen to gospel music. Many times listening to it will give me the urge to write on a similar topic or the Lord will lay a completely different idea on my heart as I worship Him while singing along.
Sitting down to write when you have no idea to work on, can be half the battle. I find taking pen in hand or touching my fingers to the computer keys and just nodding with words will sometimes generate an interesting phrase I can build on for a song. The Lord has a marvelous way for bringing something meaningful from nothing!
Faced with writer’s block one can go over songs they have written but they aren’t satisfied with, songs my song writing friend, Frank Diehl, says, “don’t ping.” We can also look at unfinished or half-written songs. If we are truthful, we would have to admit we all have some of those tucked away in drawers and binders or nestled in files on the computer.
Another idea for banishing writer’s block is to partner with someone else to write gospel songs. There is an old saying that two heads are better than one and this can be the case when facing this situation. Bouncing ideas around with another person can often be very productive. Personally, I have not had the opportunity to do this. While I write the lyrics, my husband, Paul, and I do work on the melodies together. He does most of the work on that though, with some input from me. We haven’t quite collaborated on songs in the traditional sense. There have been a couple for songs he has started, gotten bogged down on and then handed them over to me to finish. I have been asked by one well-established writer to collaborated on a song, but they never followed through on it. I’m still hoping for that opportunity.
With the Internet and various methods we have of communication nowadays, it is possible to collaborate on songs with writers from around the world, though I suspect it is more fun to do it when you are both in the same room! Connecting with someone in this way might prevent writer’s block.
As a writer of gospel songs for past fifteen years and a writer (poems, short stories, articles, etc.) for thirty years, I have found occasionally, we just have to wait writer’s block out. The more stressed we become about it, the larger and longer it looms. As gospel song writers, we don’t often have deadlines lurking over us. If none of the above suggestions work for you, don’t sweat it. Relax. Do something you enjoy. God’s inspiration always returns. He is not on our schedule. We are on His.
I have a correction to make from my last article “The Maritime Gospel Music Association (MGMA) and the MGMA Gala Awards.” I mistakenly attributed the writing of “Cover Me,” MGMA Song of the Year for 2016, which is sung by Penny McGuire to Penny McGuire. It was actually written by Mark Condon. I offer my apologies for my mistake to both parties. |
