Songwriting And Your Creative Environment

Your environment affects you in so many ways.

Personally, if I get up in the morning and my house is in a state of chaos then I feel that inside. If it’s tidy and organised then I feel that too. My songwriting output can vary depending on how organised (or disorganised) my life and my home is.

How does your environment affect you?

Today was the day in which I decided to clean and tidy my house. I have hardly been home and I have let it go a bit and I was starting to get sick and tired of the mess.

While I was cleaning I was thinking of how my mood is affected by how organised or disorganised my home is. I believe that the state of the place where you live is a good indicator to how your life is at the moment.

From that initial thought I noticed that, at my most creative and prolific times, my environment (home, work and life in general) was all under control and organised. This is because I can focus my attention more on the task of writing songs instead of doing something else.

If you want to develop your songwriting process then you need to sort out your creative environment.

Your life and the world around you is just as much a creative environment as the studio or your home. Tidy up your environment and you will be motivated into writing more songs.

When I’m at home, most of my songwriting is done in a certain area of the house. Now before I tidied it up there were piles of papers everywhere and no room for writing a song but once I cleared the area I felt instantly better.

Another area of my life that I needed to tidy up was my fitness. I have started walking between 30 and 45 minutes every day and I feel much more empowered. I am even getting song ideas while I am walking.

What areas of your life do you need to tidy up so you can get more out of yourself? Areas to look at could be:

1. Home
2. Designated Songwriting Area
3. Relationships
4. Work
5. Spiritual
6. Fitness

How you feel about work, can affect how you feel about yourself, which in turn affects your relationships, which then demotivates you from tidying the house, which leaves you feeling tired and restless meaning, NO SONGS!

Phew! Can you see how this works?

Take one part of your life environment and do something about it. Watch the positive chain reaction follow.

Until next time, happy writing,

Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician

Keywords: songwriting, songwriter, songwriting tip, songwriting help, songwriting idea, songwriting resource, songwriting blog, corey stewart

Tags: Corey Stewart, Creativity, music, Open Mics, Songwriter, Songwriting, songwriting tip, Songwriting Zen, writing, zen

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 Songwriting Help

7 Comments to Songwriting And Your Creative Environment

mychelle.music says:

April 3, 2008 at 4:22 pm

This is so true. I cleaned my entire place, top to bottom, back to front, washed everything, even organized all the contents in the closets and cabinets in January to prepare for FAWM. I found that sometimes I sit down to write and within two minutes I remember that I have a few dishes in the sink, the plants need watering, my laundry basket is full, blah blah blah. . . Well, when February came this year, I had no more cleaning to do! My creative space was clean, clear and welcoming; I had even stocked up on my favorite candles that I like to burn when I write.

Yes; I find that everything flows smoother when my space is in order.

Thanks for the fitness piece. You’ve inspired me to go for a walk tomorrow!

Corey Stewart says:

April 3, 2008 at 5:05 pm

Hi Mychelle

I find that a good walk first thing in the morning is the best for me. It really charges my batteries for the day ahead.

As I’m walking I try to get into the rhythm of my feet and get into some meditative state. It’s there that inspiration appears.

Once you get into some sort of routine you begin to really look forward to it. I’m up at 6am most mornings unless I have a late gig the night before.

Let me know how you go with it. If anything, you’ll feel more awake.

Corey

Blogging Muses » Songwriting News » NY Times Songwriting Blog Launched, American Idol Songwriting Competition, and other songwriting news says:

April 3, 2008 at 10:37 pm

[...] the creative process as they write about their work on a songs in the making.” Check it out. Songwriting and Your Creative Environment: Your life and the world around you is just as much a creative environment as the studio or your [...]

Songpull » Songwriting And Your Creative Environment » Songwriting Community Blog - Songwriter Networking says:

April 6, 2008 at 1:48 pm

[...] From that initial thought I noticed… read more [...]

Larry Garrett says:

April 10, 2008 at 8:17 am

I do agree that environment has an effect upon us in regards to writing songs, etc. I often write late at night, or on a weekend and very early in the morning (3AM) (night?). I like complete silence, or as close to it as I can get. Crickets in the summertime are a form of silence for me. So is rain, along with the thunder/lightening. I find these environments stimulating to my thought process. I feel that when I’m alone with my own demons or ghosts, that I write best. It’s almost as if “the witching hour” (darkness, silence) is made for pouring-out what’s been inside for years……….Also, I sometimes write at work. All depends on the mood. When a good lyric comes to me, I write it down. Otherwise, I WILL forget it. Again, it all depends on the environment (at the moment) and the feeling it gives me. While I do prefer to write late and when it’s dark and hopefully raining/storming/etc., I believe one must most of all, write when “it” is there to be written…….Good topic.

Corey Stewart says:

April 10, 2008 at 10:50 am

“…I believe one must most of all, write when “it” (a song) is there to be written…”

Yes Larry I couldn’t agree more with that statement. As songwriters it’s our priority to capture the idea as it comes to us no matter where we are. Sure there are better situations to stop what you’re doing and write a songwriting idea down.

I also love late evenings/early mornings. I love being creative when the collective consciousness is asleep. Life seems much more peaceful and simple around this time.

Maybe it’s because of a lack of sleep

I used to work night shift and I loved it because of that very reason. I believe you can write a song almost anywhere if you really want to.

BTW, love your MySpace page. Keep on writing,

Corey

Songwriting Zen» Blog Archive » A Change In My Creative Environment says:

May 19, 2008 at 2:51 pm

[...] my blog post “Songwriting And Your Creative Environment” I discussed how having an organised and healthy life environment actually helps with your ability [...]