How prolific are you?

usedtobe

I used to write a fair amount - not hugely prolific, but I got stuff done. Then as time went on, it gradually petered out to nothing. I haven’t written anything at all for several years, and I’d be amazed if I ever wrote anything again..

Teetonetal

MagicPigDetective said:

Not very, but it's improving. I've been playing for 30 years, and last year I finally recorded my first full song, and it was one I wrote when I was a teenager. Since then things have improved, I'm getting to grips with Reaper and I've got one more song almost completed, two others that are 2/3 there that I need to go back to and finish, and two new ones I've recently started on. I must have come up with hundreds of ideas over the years but never noted or recorded them, so at least now I'm starting to see some end product. Motivation is difficult, especially as I'm always trying to work out the technical elements of Reaper and EZDrummer. They're all instrumentals though, I really need to face up to trying to write lyrics and do some singing. That's the next challenge. 

When writing outside of a band context, this is the biggest challenge for me. I am shit at lyrics. I literally have nothing to say.

My life has been pretty bland, I'm not a romantic nor full of angst, I'm no poet and I am not a good people watcher. 

So I end up writing the most contrite, cliche riddled dross imaginable. 

Much prefer to write with a lyricist

Paul_C

PolarityMan said:

Paul_C said:

I don't write songs as such (though I did many years ago) just ambient/weird instrumentals, and having honed my methods over four years I can churn them out pretty quickly

All of which explains my 290 pieces on YouTube from 2018/19, my 32 Bandcamp albums from 2020 and the big one - 100 albums in 2021 (I did have four months at the beginning of the year where I was locked down and not working) filled with 940 tracks.

I've taken some time off after that, and I'm accumulating gear with the intention of doing things a little differently this year, though it will still be similar to the nonsense I've been making previously

In the nicest possible way I think you are stretching the definition of the word writing though. I think I would compare those more to an improvised solo or a jam. I kind of view that as a different skill. 

I wouldn't disagree with that at all.

Having said that, the topic says "How prolific are you ?" and I started my response by saying I don't write songs, so I don't think my post could in anyway be thought of as inaccurate

thermionic

Wrote a song for my first band, aged 15. The other guitarist went on to be a session player and professor of music so I was somewhat overshadowed at the time and left him to it!

Wrote 17 songs, co-wrote 2 others for the band I formed at university. Then formed a duo, discovered cassette 4-track machines and rattled off 15 songs throughout the 90s, with about 4-5 songs not quite finished. The same duo reformed as an electronic synth-pop duo and we’ve written and recorded about 8 songs, although my partner-in-crime came up with the original ideas for those (I had plenty of input though). Between these two episodes I wrote and recorded 5-6 instrumental post-rock pieces. I’ve never written lyrics though, I need a sidekick to put words to my musical ideas.

Between all this there is a cassette mini-album, a 4-track 7” vinyl ep, a 7” single with the same track on both sides (no, really), a handful of contributions to vinyl eps, cassette-only compilations, two CD compilations, and a single on orange vinyl. In the spring there will be a bandcamp/small cd run release of the 90s indie jangly stuff.

camf

ewal said:

It's about habit - like a lot of things - running, cycling, etc - I'm not good at keeping at it. I lurch between being reasonably productive and long periods of total laziness. I should be writing things at the moment, but for a number of reasons (mostly attitude and mood) I'm not.

So all that adds up to not very prolific at all...

Get busy, I’ve stepped aside to work on my country album so you’ve got the reins. I think you’re supposed to be providing the next batch of material. We should meet up and play soon.

SPECTRUM001

Crikey - I have only written about five in the last two years.

I’m quite pleased with that though, as they are absolutely brilliant.

Seriously !

T.Avon

3 full lengths and about a dozen 7”. Probably 20-30 songs for demos etc. before someone would do a release for us before that point too. Obviously garbage songs that no one has ever heard along with that. 

ewal

camf said:

ewal said:

It's about habit - like a lot of things - running, cycling, etc - I'm not good at keeping at it. I lurch between being reasonably productive and long periods of total laziness. I should be writing things at the moment, but for a number of reasons (mostly attitude and mood) I'm not.

So all that adds up to not very prolific at all...

Get busy, I’ve stepped aside to work on my country album so you’ve got the reins. I think you’re supposed to be providing the next batch of material. We should meet up and play soon.

Haha. I think we need to take this offline 

TheBigDipper

I once saw a TV documentary about Robyn Hitchcock - around about the time he was playing with Peter Buck. One of his neighbours was Nick Lowe, and they were having a songwriting session in his kitchen. Hitchcock made the comment that he wrote at least one song a day, but only one a month might have any merit at all. He thought Nick Lowe probably only wrote one song per month, but crafted every one to perfection before letting anyone else hear it.

I'm closer to Nick Lowe in productivity and approach. I wrote three decent songs last year and haven't even recorded demos of them. 

PolarityMan

TheBigDipper said:

I once saw a TV documentary about Robyn Hitchcock - around about the time he was playing with Peter Buck. One of his neighbours was Nick Lowe, and they were having a songwriting session in his kitchen. Hitchcock made the comment that he wrote at least one song a day, but only one a month might have any merit at all. He thought Nick Lowe probably only wrote one song per month, but crafted every one to perfection before letting anyone else hear it.

I'm closer to Nick Lowe in productivity and approach. I wrote three decent songs last year and haven't even recorded demos of them. 

I like to record as I write, partly because I write for all instruments simultaneously. I like what I'm working on to sound as close to an actual record as I can at all times. I have a bunch of templates I use so that I dont have to fanny around getting sounds to ahve it sounding pretty decent from the get go. 

jonnyburgo

When I was in my early 20s and in a band I could write and record 2 songs every day no sweat, some alright and some not so  but it was productive and no effort now though I think and think and lots of little "bits" but fuck all cohesive. I think my brain has gone to shit.

PolarityMan

jonnyburgo said:

When I was in my early 20s and in a band I could write and record 2 songs every day no sweat, some alright and some not so  but it was productive and no effort now though I think and think and lots of little "bits" but fuck all cohesive. I think my brain has gone to shit.

Seen a few people comment this too....for those of you that were prolific and stopped...what was the cause? I suspect most people will say having the free time but then you also see people who's job is nominally writing music also go through a similar slow down in output.

Stuckfast

As Neil Young once said, it's all one song.

I write very little these days but I take the same creative satisfaction from finding and arranging traditional songs. 

thebreeze

In many ways I think song writing is a young person's game.  If you start early and get into the habit and have a few inspiring results, you can build on it.  I've seen and read so many of the great songwriters say, "I've no idea where that really came from" when referring to early work.  The later work becomes more thought out, more formulaic and built on experience.  Watching Peter Jackson's "Get Back" was interesting for me in this respect - watching the Beatles compose.  It was almost like a production line method, and by then they knew what worked and what they were doing but retained that element of not over thinking stuff and allowing themselves the freedom to just go with whatever came up there and then.

monquixote

I've found this thread really interesting.

I'm really unprolific I love music and writing, but I don't write songs or fiction which I think is because I just don't seem to have any stories in me. 

When I've written songs it's typically been in collaboration with others who have the spark of things that we can work on, but since I was last in an originals band about 15 years ago now I've barely written anything. I don't think I find guitar an inspiring instrument to write with. 

I've recently bought a Circuit Tracks which has led to me creating a bunch of stuff, but it's mostly just ideas and beats rather than full songs.

jeztone2

I recorded an album in 2008, but I wasn't the primary songwriter. I co wrote about 15 songs in my classic rock band. But only recorded five as rough demos. I'm more of a collaborator than a sole writer.

But then I have written a novel of 70,000 words. That's out in the summer hopefully.

PolarityMan

jeztone2 said:

But then I have written a novel of 70,000 words. That's out in the summer hopefully.

Ahh another writer...I gave up thsi year but did NanoWriMo for a good few year before that. I have a big scifi novel thats sitting at aroun 200k words but is only prob 70% complete that I jsut feel intimidatedby now but also have a 50k childrens book that complete but Ive been putting off getting into the editing stage for over a year.

How did you approach going from first draft to finished product? 

ewal

thebreeze said:

In many ways I think song writing is a young person's game.  If you start early and get into the habit and have a few inspiring results, you can build on it.  I've seen and read so many of the great songwriters say, "I've no idea where that really came from" when referring to early work.  The later work becomes more thought out, more formulaic and built on experience.  Watching Peter Jackson's "Get Back" was interesting for me in this respect - watching the Beatles compose.  It was almost like a production line method, and by then they knew what worked and what they were doing but retained that element of not over thinking stuff and allowing themselves the freedom to just go with whatever came up there and then.

Alan Sparhawk of Low is interesting to listen to on songwriting - how ideas come out of the ether, how you need to exercise your song-writing muscle, cycling between creative phases and playing phases, etc. He's also someone who continues to develop creatively as he gets older. He appears to have to push his own boundaries every time he goes back to it.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/verse-chorus-verse/id1071781597?i=1000380718168

roberty

PolarityMan said:

jonnyburgo said:

When I was in my early 20s and in a band I could write and record 2 songs every day no sweat, some alright and some not so  but it was productive and no effort now though I think and think and lots of little "bits" but fuck all cohesive. I think my brain has gone to shit.

Seen a few people comment this too....for those of you that were prolific and stopped...what was the cause? I suspect most people will say having the free time but then you also see people who's job is nominally writing music also go through a similar slow down in output.

I focus on quality instead, so the process is more considered and deliberate, for better or worse. I have a day job that taxes my brain. The pace of life tends to slow down when you get older. And I don't feel as if I have anything to prove now

jeztone2

PolarityMan said:

jeztone2 said:

But then I have written a novel of 70,000 words. That's out in the summer hopefully.

Ahh another writer...I gave up thsi year but did NanoWriMo for a good few year before that. I have a big scifi novel thats sitting at aroun 200k words but is only prob 70% complete that I jsut feel intimidatedby now but also have a 50k childrens book that complete but Ive been putting off getting into the editing stage for over a year.

How did you approach going from first draft to finished product? 

I did the first draft. Then stepped away for three months. Then started my edit. Then the same process. Around the second or third draft I worked out a chapter plan. Then drew out my narrative arc across all twenty chapters. I wasn't emotionally attached to any characters. So some merged. All my favourite novels are very short and concise. I wanted a book that was a quick read. But action packed.

By about the eighth full edit, I brought in beta readers to view the opening three chapters. I picked one guy for whom English is a second language. Just to see if he got it.

Then last autumn I did my legal compliances. My principle villain is from Barnsley and boasts of having once been in a brawl with Biff Byford from Saxon. All while singing along to Wheels of Steel in a car. So that took some time getting permission from Biff through his managers. But he's a good sport. I had to show him the context of him being mentioned. But he liked it.

At the moment it's with a freelance editor. I just want fresh eyes on it before it's locked and goes to print layout.