Seriously tho, devise a plan

There’s nothing wrong with a little planning, trust.

Inspiration is great until you have no idea what to do with it. Just as quickly as it comes to you, it disappears.

This is real and oftentimes it causes anxiety or feeling like an imposter, which can lead to procrastination of the worst kind.

So how do you work through writer’s block?

Devise a plan. With a plan comes commitment or making a decision regarding form and process.

Start with the information you already have. Use that information as an anchor to help organize your thoughts and intentions.

I’ve had many teachers suggest this to me in my youth, but it wasn’t until I observed several processes in nature that made it extremely clear, the importance of a plan for optimization and success.

WEAVE A WEB YO!

One of my favorite processes to observe is that of a garden spider. If you notice, the webs are generally in places difficult for a spider to crawl, so they anchor one side and using a silk strand they allow a slight breeze to gently lift them to the other side.

Then to strengthen it, they crawl back along the first strand to double it with another layer of. This is generally done in a Y shape. Once these anchors, or radials are constructed, they add more radials until the web is complete.

I captured this image late one October night. Using the led from my cell phone and the full moon as backdrop. This is a garden spider weaving its web.

It’s important to note that the web has sticky silk and non sticky silk. The sticky silk is used to capture prey while the non sticky silk is so that the spider does not get trapped in its own web. They also have adapted ways of navigating with nonstick hairs to help them retrieve prey that are trapped.

How does this apply to music?

Form and Structure is essential to containing and framing sounds and vibrations into something that makes sense to our brains and differentiates music from other non coherent sounds.

Process is the method in which we go about creating the music. You’ll notice that the process is directly related to the form as observed by composer Edgard Varese.

Using Process and Form as a ‘web’, can help you trap inspiration.

You must however use your intuition, or spirit guide to navigate this musical contraption so as to not to get stuck in your own web.

If you’re fast enough you can try the ‘cheetah method’. Be aware that you will need patience, some camouflage and the ability to run at top speed. But be careful not exhaust yourself before capturing your ‘prey’. Good Luck!

When Composing a Piece of Music, Devise A Plan