When I was a teenager, I wanted to be a songwriter/guitarist.
I spent hours in my room with my four-track writing music.
Many times it was a mystical experience to hear the instruments combine to create beautiful soundscapes.
But sometimes it was a frustrating struggle.
If the inspiration wasn’t there, I would have battles with my Martin acoustic, notepad, and four track.
The bummer part is it didn’t have to be so hard. We often attribute creativity with picking ideas out of the ether. But there are step-by-step formulas we can follow to generate fresh ideas, novel connections, and new insights.