5 Reasons You're Not Finishing Your Songs (And How to Fix It)


There's a troubling frustration all songwriters know – that feeling when you've started a new song, feel great and inspired about it, envision it being so powerful, then getting stuck. It's difficult holding onto that initial spark, and it's even more difficult feeling defeated by a powerful idea that you can't quite finish. Another frustration is when you think you've finished a song, then listen back or have a friend listen back, and realize you're still not quite there. You want to be prolific and producing new material, but sometimes there's a wall that just won't seem to come down. Here are five reasons you may not be finishing your songs, along with actionable tips on how to overcome them.

1. You're always starting new songs
It's great to be creatively prolific with your songwriting, even if it means you're coming up with a bunch of unfinished songs. They could be the start of an album! You always want to keep the wheels of songwriting turning to stay fresh, focused, and active in your creative expression. However, if you have a growing pile of unfinished songs, it might be time to let off on new tracks until you finish some of your current ones.

How to fix it: Make it an exercise to finish a song – set a date for when it has to be done, but be open to rewrites after the date. Record it (even if just on a crummy device; it doesn't have to be professional) and analyze. This way, you'll at least have a finished song to critique and work with. You can change it after the fact, but make it a practice to simply finish songs – no matter if you think they're going to turn out horrible, incredible, or anywhere in between – rather than always starting new ones and avoiding the work you've already begun.

2. You're having trouble tapping back into the emotions that inspired the song
A painting can take up to hundreds of hours to complete, but the burst of inspiration can sometimes only last a few hours. Artists have to really capture and hold on to their message in the beginning to know what they want to create. After that burst wears off, they're left working with the message they created, even if it isn't affecting them in that moment. The same goes with songwriting. You might be deep in the midst of heartbreak, write it all out in one heavy session, and then come back a few weeks later with a different headspace. If what you had is good and you want to finish it, try to come up with ways to hold on to your initial message and tap back into those emotions.

How to fix it: Keeping a songwriting journal is a great way to retain inspiration and message. Map out what you were feeling, what you want to communicate, where you envision the song going, etc. That way, when you come back, you can pick up where you left off much faster. Music isn't just what we do for fun and to be on stage – it's how we move on in our personal lives. You may not want to revisit a certain song because it represents a dark place in your life – we understand, but practice learning how to hold on to the message and communicate it through a finished song.

3. You constantly prioritize other musical tasks instead
It’s always good to practice your singing, your instrument, your previously written songs, covers, etc. You want to keep your chops up, and you don't want to slack on old material. However, if every time you sit down with your instrument, you end up playing old songs or noodling through new covers instead of the songwriting you intended to do, you're robbing yourself of valuable time to finish new songs.

How to fix it: It's all a balance – you need to work on finishing songs as well as keeping up with other musical tasks, but don't let one swallow up the other. Sometimes we're afraid to approach an unfinished song because we don't have that writer's spark in us to really pound out new material. Don't allow that fear to manifest as procrastination by focusing on other tasks too much, because then you'll never finish it!

4. You're not absorbing enough outside material
Sometimes all it takes to write a song is to just hear a new piece of music from a new artist and instantly be inspired. Or if you're hard at work on a track but have hit a wall, go on a walk and listen to some of your favorite songwriters. It's an activity that will keep your creative juices flowing, and you can look to your heroes on how to craft melodies, finish a bridge, or build up to a chorus. If you're stuck listening to your own unfinished tracks over and over without taking a break to listen to your inspirations, you can wind up getting stuck or writing a crummy ending.

How to fix it: Take time to absorb outside material – it doesn't even have to be music! Kanye West would walk around Paris absorbing art and architecture to inspire him while writing his album Yeezus. For you, it could be a trip to the beach, a dinner party with close friends, or taking a book of poetry to the park. Don't be afraid to step away from the process and take in some fresh air.

5. You're absorbing too much outside material
On the other hand, you might be listening to too much outside material and not making enough room for your own creative voice. Maybe you really want to write a song like Frank Ocean's "Swim Good" – you listen to it on repeat, study it, and get to writing your own inspired song. However, if you just constantly listen to Frank Ocean and hope that your songs will magically get as good, you're likely not going to have much luck.

How to fix it: Make it an exercise to shut off the outside world (and sounds) from time to time in order to really get into your own headspace where you're saying what you want to say, not what you're hearing outside. Getting too caught up in tons of different inspirations can clutter your thoughts. Balance is key – not too much outside material and not too little. Find out what works best for you.

The source

 

"When man is not producing he is lifting"

-Winnie the pooh

 

Music isn't ever finished, it's abandoned.

 

6. You're going to too many websites looking for the answer to the question 'why can't I finish my songs?' to actually finish a song.

 

If a song is started in the summer.
You will not properly continue to work on it in the winter.

Season and weather affects creativity and inspiration.

 

That assumes people are not only one dimensional but totally unprofessional, so whilst I accept seasonal conditions can affect creativity, I have to overall disagree with that.
I, like many others I'm sure, have continued to work on songs spanning different months and years with no continuity issues.
In fact, a fresh approach can do wonders for inspiration and eventual out come of a piece.

 

Rock music in the summer.
Orchestral music in the winter.

 

Not in my experience, but If you're so limited creatively and that set in your ways inspirationally, sure, why not?

 

We usually write as a group (3 or more). Let the guitarist focus on rhythm and backing, vocalists on melody and words. Words usually end up getting tweaked later, prior to laying the track, sometimes after. It's a formula that has worked well for us. If something doesn't get completed is one session (an hour or so), we'll put it on the side burner and work on new material. Always scratchpad recording with our DR-40. Sometimes we'll go back through these old sessions and pick out the choice bits or finish up one. Usually, if we can't complete it within an hour or so, we don't deem it good enough to make the cut. But sometimes later we'll find the missing element that's needed to complete it. Usually recording serves as inspiration and a way to find the empty spots for fill material.
That's just how we do it, and we usually end up finishing to a point where we decide if we're going to use it or not. It's better to throw away stuff that doesn't make the cut than keep trying to push it to completion where it ends up sounding forced.

 

when I dont finish to compose a song means that the starting idea was not so strong because the motivation end before the technical process required. When this happen, I have to admit myself that the song should be aborted

do you want to save this song: YES/NO? ---->NO

 

Discipline, really.

The bottom line is it takes more effort to finish something than in does to start something, so people just do the easy thing and do lots of starting, but not much finishing. Some motivation can help you knuckle down - like, you're performing at a show in three days time, and need to actually have something to play otherwise it's going to get very embarrassing. But without some motivation to finish, you need to discipline yourself to get it done.

 

Hey Buddy, there was also a quote from the OTHER Winnie The Pooh, "When man is not producing he is SHOP-lifting," but he is in prison now.

 

Ya know, there is a solution for this I've just thought of, which could work and might be a fun thing to try.

If there are tracks that people have started working on that look like slipping into the deep depths of hard drive space that no longer ever sees the light of day, what about having a special place on the website (Maybe a word with Saint could see it happen if enough people are interested) where it can be uploaded so that other people can see if they can take it further (A collaboration). After all, 2 halves of something is much better than one half of nothing.

 

@SAiNT has created such a Special Place but it hasn't caught on yet, and he may remove it if it's not going to be utilized but we hit a roadblock because some members feel exposing your work will limit their chances to success, typecasted as a warez user or don't feel confident enough to do so.

Sub Forum Here
https://audiosex.pro/forums/work-in-process.91/

 

I was experiencing some of that when i started. Actually, not when i started to compose, but when i started to record stuff.
At first, is just kind of a hobbie, so i didn't have a deadline or something, and i wanted to put everything i knew (at that time) in a song.
That process makes you unsatisfied, because 1) you are looking for something that makes you proud and happy, and 2) you obviously don't have a clue what you are doing.
That happens to most producers i know.

Trust me, if you have it in you, after years of working and producing, having deadlines, multiples projects at the same time, entering in a studio in the morning, going to another in the afternoon, and finishing stuff in your home studio at night, makes all the difference in how you work, how you process things in your head, and how you understand that a song is just that, a song. If i don't get what i wanted 100% with that track, i know i would get it tomorrow with another one.

 

I forgot one other thing: is kind of silly and obvious but nonetheless, true: trust your feelings, your guts.
That feeling of "this part of the song could have been done better if i have done blah blah blah" is kind of inevitable.

 

I saw the new invite only section, but I can't get in, not even to view the general discussion or house rules topics as "you do not have permission to view this page or perform this action."
So whose bum do we sniff to get asked in?

 

Thanks IntroNinja. I just had a little look and I can sort of see the pitfalls of that. How about a slight amendment.
1) A person submits for example a bassline they've been working on and posts it.
2) Anyone can pick up the mantle and add a synth (as another example) but here is the twist. The person who gets the final say as to what is added is the person currently holding the bassline. However once he or she agrees the synth part, the responsibility of the song shifts to the person who added the synth (in this example) and the song then progresses.
3) Perhaps a structure could be set up, which goes all the way from construction to final mastering, with as many people who want to take part as possible.

 

Quite like the idea, as long as people don't start arguing over resonsibility. It's not too difficult to amend, as it's a matter of putting a code at the begining of the posts. Would need some ground rules for it though, so everyone who takes part understands from the get go. Also people need to support the idea, and that seems to be the hard part.

 

Many thanks guys for your taking notice of this thread.
I passionately yearn for getting shot of this calamity for all the people having the same hassle.