# Seeking Song Inspiration

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-song-inspiration/470984>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 4, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-song-inspiration/470984 "2008-11-04T03:25:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![unstrung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a698b9/32.png) [@unstrung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unstrung)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-song-inspiration/470984/1 "2008-11-04T03:25:54Z")

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I’ve been struggling with writer’s block for quite some time now. I’m not the most prolific songwriter under the best of circumstances, but it’s been way too long since I’ve come up with anything new.

So, I figured I’d put the question to the folks here at the Straight Dope. Fellow songwriting type folks, what do you guys do for inspiration?

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**Author:** ![Avast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Avast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avast)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-song-inspiration/470984/2 "2008-11-04T07:31:50Z")

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I certainly would never consider myself a songwriter, but most of them are about women…

I know that’s no help. Just thought I’d share.

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**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-song-inspiration/470984/3 "2008-11-04T18:25:58Z")

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Get outside. Sit in a park or a restaurant, and people-watch. Create a backstory for everyone you see.

Pick a celebrity you like and write about a day in his/her life from their perspective. Now do one you don’t like.

Read a book. Visit a songwriting message board. Open a newspaper and randomly choose a sentence to write about.

Write a short play and then turn it into a song. Interview an elderly relative. Get yourself in a relaxed state and write down your stream of consciousness.

Win Grammy.

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**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\
**Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-song-inspiration/470984/4 "2008-11-04T18:41:36Z")

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> [@unstrung](#):
>
> I’ve been struggling with writer’s block for quite some time now. I’m not the most prolific songwriter under the best of circumstances, but it’s been way too long since I’ve come up with anything new.
> 
> So, I figured I’d put the question to the folks here at the Straight Dope. Fellow songwriting type folks, what do you guys do for inspiration?

I’m a poet, not a songwriter, but I usually get inspiration either from specific things I see that form an image in my head or from reading other people’s poetry.

So, read poetry or listen to songwriters you admire and see if anything sticks out.

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**Author:** ![unstrung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a698b9/32.png) [@unstrung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unstrung)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeking-song-inspiration/470984/5 "2008-11-06T23:56:18Z")

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Many thanks for the suggestions 🙂

I’ll give some of them a try and see what happens…