unrulybeast.blogspot.com
Paul Nordquist's Unruly Beast of a Songblog: November 2010
http://unrulybeast.blogspot.com/2010_11_01_archive.html
Wednesday, November 10, 2010. 5♠ Garbage in, beauty out. 5♠ Five of Spades in The Rock Songwriter’s Deck: 52 Ways to Write a Song. The Five of Spades believes you can make a beautiful song out of any set of materials, even garbage. You can take your inspiration from the visual artists who create unique sculptures out of things that they find in the trash. Believe it or not, this is the final card in The Rock Songwriter's Deck! Wednesday, November 3, 2010. 8♣ Meet Captain Sledgehammer. Learn the gritty de...
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Paul Nordquist's Unruly Beast of a Songblog: April 2011
http://unrulybeast.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html
Saturday, April 30, 2011. Staring down a brick wall? As I explained in the last two posts, to get started on creative work, you need to believe both "I can get this done" and "This will make a difference.". Basically, this means picking a goal that's small enough that you can actually complete it, but important enough that you'll have some enthusiasm for the effort. Those two categories don't always overlap. The result is that I do nothing at all. I waste the whole day, and then I feel guilty about it.
unrulybeast.blogspot.com
Paul Nordquist's Unruly Beast of a Songblog: October 2010
http://unrulybeast.blogspot.com/2010_10_01_archive.html
Wednesday, October 27, 2010. 5♥ Your weapon of choice. 5♥ Five of Hearts in The Rock Songwriter’s Deck: 52 Ways to Write a Song. The Five of Hearts asks you to let your angry emotions inspire you. Write as if your song were a weapon, and your intention is to hurt someone. It helps if you’re actually angry at someone. But if you're not, just pretend. ( “It’s called acting. Wednesday, October 20, 2010. 8♥ Round robin. 8♥ Eight of Hearts in The Rock Songwriter’s Deck: 52 Ways to Write a Song. Don't talk, do...
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Paul Nordquist's Unruly Beast of a Songblog: Tip #12: The buddy system
http://unrulybeast.blogspot.com/2012/02/tip-12-buddy-system.html
Sunday, February 12, 2012. Tip #12: The buddy system. Continuing our series of tips for writing quickly. Nothing spurs your creativity like having a buddy or group of friends to share your works-in-progress with. Whether you meet every week, or check in on Facebook every day, you'll be highly motivated to have something new to show your friends each time. Sometimes that extra motivation is all you need to get over your temporary hurdles and get your song done. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom). A songwr...
unrulybeast.blogspot.com
Paul Nordquist's Unruly Beast of a Songblog: January 2012
http://unrulybeast.blogspot.com/2012_01_01_archive.html
Tuesday, January 31, 2012. 14-1/2 tips on writing fast and not getting bogged down. For those of you participating in this year's February Album Writing Month Challenge. Watch this blog for a series of tips on how to write quickly and avoid getting bogged down in indecision. Tip #1 arrives on February 1! While you're waiting, here are Robin Frederick's helpful tips on writer's block. Monday, January 23, 2012. Seven ways to start verse 1. Just try something and see how it works out. 1 Start with the title.
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Paul Nordquist's Unruly Beast of a Songblog: October 2011
http://unrulybeast.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html
Friday, October 28, 2011. Does your song pass the a capella test? Try singing your melody line all by itself, with no drum track, no chord instruments, no instruments at all. How well does your melody hold up a capella? Pronounced AH kuh-PELL-uh) is a musical term, originally from Italian, that means "sung without accompaniment" or "no instruments, just voices.". I mention all of these caveats to emphasize that it can still be a good song if it fails the a capella. A song that works a capella. The most d...
unrulybeast.blogspot.com
Paul Nordquist's Unruly Beast of a Songblog: Here comes February Album Writing Month
http://unrulybeast.blogspot.com/2013/01/here-comes-february-album-writing-month.html
Thursday, January 31, 2013. Here comes February Album Writing Month. It's time for February Album Writing Month 2013, at http:/ fawm.org. The FAWM challenge: to write 14 songs during the 28 days of February. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom). Learn the gritty details of the craft of rock songwriting. Look inside the creative process. Find encouragement and inspiration for creating a new world. Here comes February Album Writing Month. View my complete profile. Rock Song U Songwriting Assignment Generator.
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Paul Nordquist's Unruly Beast of a Songblog: Tip #13: Roll dice
http://unrulybeast.blogspot.com/2012/02/tip-13-roll-dice.html
Monday, February 13, 2012. Tip #13: Roll dice. Continuing our series of tips for writing quickly. If decisions slow you down, try taking yourself out of the decision process. Write down your list of options and roll a die or flip a coin to choose among them. If you think you need to manage every detail and carefully consider every decision, you might be surprised at how well things work out if you loosen your control of the process and let random chance be your collaborator. Tip #13: Roll dice.
unrulybeast.blogspot.com
Paul Nordquist's Unruly Beast of a Songblog: February 2013
http://unrulybeast.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html
Tuesday, February 5, 2013. Suggestion: Write a breakup song, with a twist. Songwriting suggestion: Write a breakup song — but not about a romantic relationship. A long-term relationship has soured, and it's time to call it quits. Maybe it's a person breaking up with a heartless big bank, or giving up on a favorite product after its quality got worse and worse. Maybe your character is quitting a sports team, or sending a well-worn pair of boots to the trash. Friday, February 1, 2013. Learn the gritty deta...
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Paul Nordquist's Unruly Beast of a Songblog: May 2011
http://unrulybeast.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html
Tuesday, May 10, 2011. If you're a creative artist, but you spend too much of your time not creating anything and feeling stuck, take heart! You're not alone. Most creative artists are stuck most of the time — which is a sorry state of things! Our fault, if anything, is in neglecting ourselves. Back in February, I signed up for the February Album Writing Month. Challenge — to write 14 new songs in 28 days. Writing that much material that quickly is indeed a challenge, but, as I pointed out at t...In the ...
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