A young Composer wrote to me that he was experiencing Creativity Block. I'll share a little something with you that will help you keep your creative flow "growing," that will allow for a life-time of forward momentum in creative acheivement.
Remember this: --- Creative Block is the result of "Thinking" not of "Being." True creative power comes from out of our human spirit. Thinking produces replication. Both are necessary to the human creative process. But know this: When there is a block, it is the result of a breakdown in the human thought process.
No matter how long you've been making your own music, twenty years from now everything you presently have to work hard at will be second nature to you. You develope "Chops" over time through doing.
Like building muscle, growth takes place during the Rest Cycle, and there are times in the Workout Cycle when a light workout is the best thing to keep in a Positive Growth Pattern.
I'm an painter also, and find that when my mind is getting dull or tired in one thing, I find new pleasure and creative outlet in the other. Or I stop everything and go fishing; or mow the lawn - whatever.
And this all important thing --- Conduct Extensive Experimentation.
Play the Piano? Pop the lip and play the strings with your fingers and beat out a rythym with felt mallets. Play the guitar? Turn it over and use it for a percussive instrument. In effect: Make love to the instrument; know your instrument intimately. --- This is more true for the Computer Based Musician, as there is so much more potential, and so much more to know.
Take this example of my own work to heart (I think if you would study my work closely you could learn a few important things from it). I am able to consistantly sit down and lay out a complete tune (Beats, Bass, Rythym, Lead, Harmonic's & basic effects) in an hour, 2 hours for more complex, synth rich structures. But that same tune, before it becomes a work of art that I'll sign my name to, takes between a week and 3 months to achieve.
Why? --- Extensive Experimentation and continuous self-education.
"Losing yourself in Free-Exploration, Unecumbered Discovery, and Rest from the creative process is the Cure for Creative Block."
---- I could write a chapter on this subject, but will end here with this: Without extensive experimentation I will only REPLICATE what I already know and have done before (or worse, what others have done before). And through my extentive experiments I may actually discover things that others have yet to.
So about Creater's Block --- If you keep working and growing, twenty years from now it will not exist in you IF --- when you are tired (creatively tired), you can just put it down and do other things.
In Conclusion:
By stopping the focused song-writing, music making ritual and just losing yourself in EXPLORATION, you can continue making growth progess, learn new and exciting things that you have DISCOVERED for yourself and know for a fact will work everytime. --- As time ticks by and your experience builds, you mature in your music and use of instruments and effects processing; you DEVELOPE YOUR CHOPS. Then you can sit down with any number of other seasoned music veterens and just do what you do without having to think about it.