Part 2 - Space and Permission

Welcome back

Song-writing then. 

Perhaps you have that folder I mentioned, or maybe a stack of notebooks, or whatever it is you use to capture your ideas.

Now we start the process of turning the ideas into songs - complete, finished songs. 

And here is my first rule for completing songs. 

Which has nothing to do with songs or music.

  

        Space and permission.

What do I mean by that? These two things come together to give you the best chance at writing your best songs. You can ignore them, but you'll make life harder for yourself.

 

(this is not my room)

Space. What I'm talking about here is a physical space where you can focus completely on the job in hand. It might be you're lucky enough to have a dedicated music space in your house, if that's so, take a moment next time you step in there and think about how it feels to cross the threshold? Is it inspiring? Does it give you a little lift just being in there?

If so, great. If not, have a think about what's missing and whether that's easy to fix.

If it isn't then you're in the same boat as everyone who doesn't have that space.

So find a different space. Maybe that's a bench in a park. Maybe it's a seat in an understanding coffee shop. Maybe it's the front seat of your car. I used to travel up and and down to London a lot and two hours each way on the train gave me loads of song-writing space.

But it has to be somewhere you can focus.

If it's the most inspiring room in the house but constantly interrupted by family members or you can't hear yourself think because the washing machine has just hit the spin cycle... Well that's not going to work.

Find the space that works for you.

 

Right, got your space sorted, now let's talk about permission.

I'm not talking about permission from your housemate or neighbours to play music and make some noise, I'm talking about permission from yourself to completely focus on the your songwriting.

That means not worrying about getting the washing out. Not just popping online to check there's enough cash in the account to pay the bills.

It means allowing yourself to stay in your music space until 2am to finish a song if that's what it takes.

It means ignoring the texts, emails, Whatsapp notifications and every other distraction that creeps into our lives.

But Drew! I hear you cry. I live in the real world! I have family, and obligations, and bills that actually need paying!

And I understand that, and that's why this bit is so important and so difficult.

So here are three good ways to tackle that intrusion of the real world.

Firstly, there's the easy-but-expensive route. Book yourself onto some artists retreat somewhere. I have done it a couple of times and they're brilliant. You get inspiration, a bit of camaraderie, minimal obligations (maybe a share of the cooking), but fundamentally you get protected time.

But they do tend to cost a fortune.

So the second option is to arrange your own retreat. Hook up with some band mates, or friends with different hobbies entirely, and book an Airbnb somewhere. But be really clear with everyone why you're there. It's on you to protect your time.

You don't even actually need to go anywhere.

Which brings us to option three. And that's to be open with all those people and things that are a demand on your time and negotiate that protected time.

Maybe it means a staycation with no plans. Maybe it means Monday evening between 7 and 10. Maybe it's alternate Sunday afternoons after the kids are back from football.

But somehow you are going to have to give yourself the gift of some time.

Because whilst some songs spring out of nowhere and are done in 10 glorious minutes, most aren't. They need to be teased, cajoled and nurtured into being.

And that needs serious, protected time.

As a friend of mind says, if you don't take yourself seriously, why would anyone else?