Writer’s block? Tips for songwriters
Published on Monday 18 May 2026
Writer’s block… the stories from fellow musicians who completely get stuck when writing songs don’t lie. Guest blogger Iris Siemons sees the struggle. As a songwriter, she can offer plenty of advice on inspiration, planning, dedication, flow and… that annoying inner critic.
Squeaky pedal
For me, ideas come like a kind of waterfall from above. Sometimes I have to consciously close the little tap for a moment, otherwise I can’t properly be the dedicated mum I want to be when putting the kids to bed or getting to volleyball training. Is it luck that it works like that for me? Maybe—but I think it’s mostly about having the right attitude, which is: inspiration is everywhere. That’s why writing never comes as easily to me as when I’m on the move. Exactly at the moment I’m not sitting down to do it. When I’m in between things, when I’m moving, the best ideas pop into my head. The voice recorder on my phone (the invention of the century) is my wild-ideas archive. The result is a bottomless collection of possibilities—everything loose, unfinished, and all over the place. Sometimes the inspiration is in the beeps of the pedestrian crossing lights, in rattling air vents, a squeaky pedal, the intonation of a word. Repeating a word automatically leads to a rhythm.
Without blinkers
The most important thing is to be free and to dare to play. Could the opposite perhaps be the definition of writer’s block? That you no longer have the freedom to turn nothing into something through play? That you’re already stuck in advance with all kinds of rules about form and demands about quality? And “it has to sound catchy, but also be original”? We all know the emotion a simple melody can bring, don’t we? That gripping set of chords that’s been played so many times before. Back to the joy of a simple third. Use silence—the space in the bar, the art of leaving things out. It’s good if it gives you a “yeah” feeling. If you’re always trying to be better, prettier, more original, more virtuosic, you end up choking on “knowledge and skills”. If you give in to everything your ego (or your label) wants to show on that stage, you’re placing all sorts of restrictions on yourself. Knowing that a structure of verses and choruses works well is useful. But if you start with that condition, you’ve already put blinkers on and hugely limit your creativity. That structure will come later! Later on, you can crown your best ideas as the chorus.
Planning and dedication
Planning and working with dedication until it’s finished is a second, absolutely essential part of the writing process. But generally, I don’t sit down at my desk without a fairly complete picture of the theme, the pulse (the rhythm) and the atmosphere. Sure—I’ve occasionally finished songs in half an hour that I was really happy with. It happens, but it’s very rare. There are also songs I’ve rewritten for years, only for them to end up being left behind and leading to nothing. By the way, I never truly throw anything away. Because if you listen back in a different mood, sometimes you suddenly hear the potential after all.
Flow
The most important thing in this second phase is getting into the flow. Usually I’ll spend two to four days getting a song with lyrics, melody and chords into a rough first draft, but that varies a lot from song to song. Arranging and producing only comes afterwards. Over the past few years, I’ve discovered a number of conditions that work for me to get into the flow:
- I mustn’t have to keep checking the time. If I have to stop at a certain time because of something else, I set an alarm.
- No emails, apps, messages, doorbell interruptions. Sometimes tricky, but it genuinely doesn’t work.
- Don’t allow frustration about the process—any outcome is fine.
- Try things out and make decisions. I’m an overthinker and can leave everything open-ended for ages, but a song won’t get finished if everything remains an option—so it’s roll up your sleeves and sometimes cut your best lines, try the least logical order, sing the melody backwards to see if it works then, and so on.
- Stop and let it go when I’m tired or stuck.
Inner critic
The most dangerous moment is when the inner critic starts getting involved. There comes a point where you begin fine-tuning the song more and more. That’s when you have to become critical of every word you’ve chosen and every melodic line. There’s a real chance you’ll cut things that make a song brilliant. At that point you’re already deep into the process. You may have heard a melody or a line eighty times and can no longer feel its value as purely as you did in the beginning. When I suspect my inner critic is getting too loud, I drop everything and leave it until a later moment.
What do you run into when writing songs? Leave a comment—maybe I can help you think it through…
Iris Siemons is an independent songwriter and singer. She writes laid-back alternative/indie pop songs.
Her debut EP will be released in September 2018. This year, Iris is also launching her ‘Soundtrack of your moment’, where she writes a song for a specific person for a special occasion.
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