Coffee Cup Method to Finishing Songs
This is a method I rarely use, but my friend Bonnie swears by it, so I’ll share it with you. It can be applied to things other than songwriting too.
Songwriting is often 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. The second part is the hard part, taking an idea and making a finished song out of it.
The coffee cup method is simple. You go to a coffee shop, and you sit down at a table, on your own, and you sit and drink coffee until you finish writing your song. This frees you from distractions and focusses you on the task at hand. You are not permitted to leave until the song is complete, and the more coffee you drink the more you will want to finish it, as I’m sure too much coffee will make you feel ill.
Like I said, I don’t always use this method but I will admit songwriting is often just a matter of ‘turning up’ and putting in the time, and the results come after a hard slog. I’ve used this method before for some tunes, and it can work wonders, usually by ending months of creative procrastination in just a couple of hours that weren’t so hard after all.
Good luck.
December 6th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
[…] Chris talks about his friend’s coffee cup method of songwriting The coffee cup method is simple. You go to a coffee shop, and you sit down at a table, on your own, and you sit and drink coffee until you finish writing your song. This frees you from distractions and allows you to focus on the task at hand. You are not permitted to leave until the song is complete, and the more coffee you drink the more you will want to finish it, as I’m sure too much coffee will make you feel ill. (Full article) […]