10ish Ways to FIGHT Writer's Block
Love Music More · hosted by Luke F. Walton (Scoobert Doobert) · Solo episode
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Topics discussed
Host note
"Garbage in, garbage out", when nothing's coming, the real question is what you've been feeding yourself. Writer's block is almost always an input problem, not an output one.
I go through the full bag: listening outside your genre, starting something and abandoning it on purpose to see where it leads, changing your environment, learning a new instrument, and the quiet confidence trick of doubling your recordings. Some of these shift headspace; some just give your hands something unfamiliar to reach for.
One specific caveat: change the tempo early in the process, not late. Trust me on that one, late is brutal.
Selected moments
- Reddit question after Memorial Day 0:01 Back from a lake break; a listener asked how to stay excited and keep generating ideas.
- The whole bag of tricks 0:46 Frame: changing perspective applies to any creative work, not just music.
- Garbage in, garbage out 1:33 Dad's phrase applied to inputs — classical, jazz, and field recordings outside my usual frame.
- Abandon the first idea 3:05 Start something, leave it, let the next idea arrive from the wreckage.
- Master bus experiments 6:46 Tweak the two-bus setup and let the setting change the headspace.
- New instruments, new reach 9:03 Unfamiliar fretboards and keys force different melodic choices.
- Double for confidence 10:33 Stacking a part until it feels solid enough to commit.
- Tempo early, not late 13:32 Closing caveat — shifting BPM at the end of a production is miserable.
Selected excerpts
There's a whole bag of tricks that I have that I go to all the fricking time, and I'm sharing with you, because I want you to make more music.
Start something, and then abandon that idea, but let it lead you to the next idea.
Those head space changes create a different frame of mind for everything.
Change the tempo early in the process — don't do this late in the process. That sucks.
FAQ
What triggered this episode on writer's block?
A Reddit listener asked how I stay in the zone and keeps generating ideas. The episode is his full answer: not inspiration mysticism, but a repeatable bag of tricks for shifting inputs and perspective.
What does 'garbage in, garbage out' mean for musicians?
I borrow the phrase from his dad and applies it to listening diet: if you only feed yourself one genre, your outputs narrow. I recommend classical, jazz, field recordings, and deep musical history as ways to break a slump.
What production tricks does Luke recommend when ideas stall?
Abandon a starter idea on purpose, experiment with master-bus settings, learn a new instrument, double a part for confidence, and — critically — change tempo early in the process, not after the arrangement is locked.
Curated notes only — no public transcript. Listen on the links above.