The 7-Step Method I Use to Write Songs Even When I Feel Nothing

Photo by Marius Masalar on Unsplash

If you’re reading this, you probably care about music the same way I do—deeply, irrationally, almost spiritually.

But caring about music doesn’t mean inspiration shows up on command. Sometimes the ideas flow. Most times...they don’t.

For years, every song I wrote arrived as a lightning strike: a melody in the shower, a chord progression while half-asleep, a lyric I didn’t even fully understand yet.

I captured what I could, but I couldn’t tell you how I wrote those early songs. They just happened.

Fast-forward a decade, and that “muse-only” approach stopped working.

The last song I wrote before this year was back in 2021.

If you read my July post--Why I Quit Music… And Why I Might Start Again--you already know why I stepped away. But here’s the real reason I came back:

I’m tired of waiting for inspiration to choose me.

I want to be able to write a song on demand.

Not in a forced, robotic way--but in a craft way. In a skill way.

The same way a writer can sit down and write, even without the “spark.”

So I went back to basics.

I picked up the piano again.

I reworked old ideas.

I dug into the mechanics of composition.

And now I’ve built a simple, repeatable process that lets me create music even on the days I feel empty.

If you’re a musician, producer, or singer-songwriter who wants the same thing, here’s the framework.

It’s the exact one I’m using right now as I rebuild my voice from the ground up.

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My 7 Steps to Write a Song Even When You’re Not Inspired

Step 1: Pick a Key Signature

Don’t overthink this. Pick a key you like--or pick one at random.

I almost always go to E Natural Minor.

It just feels like home.

Whatever you choose, lock it in and move on.

Step 2: Choose a Chord Progression

You’re not trying to reinvent harmony.

You’re trying to create momentum.

Grab a progression that feels good.

If you’re stuck, steal from the greats:

• I–V–vi–IV (the global hit-maker)

• IV–I–V–vi

• vi–IV–I–V
  

Adele’s Someone Like You, Swift’s Bad Blood, and Sia’s Cheap Thrills all use variations of these patterns.

There is no “wrong” choice here—only starting points.

Step 3: Create a Simple Melody (Your Motif)

Stay inside the scale of your key.

Play around until you land on a short melodic phrase--one to four bars--that feels clean and repeatable.

This is your motif, your building block, your seed.

Keep it stupidly simple.

Simplicity survives the creative process.

Step 4: Use Compositional Tools to Grow the Idea

This is where your melody turns into music.

Here are the four tools that matter:

1. Repetition – restate your motif

2. Retrograde – play it backward

3. Sequence – shift it up or down the scale

4. Transformation – alter notes or rhythm after establishing the original

These tools give your music intention--not randomness.

Example structure:

• Motif (2 bars)

• Retrograde (2 bars)

• Sequence (2 bars)

• Original motif again

• Transformation to close

This elevates even a simple idea into something that feels crafted.

Step 5: Shape the Left Hand (Your Harmony)

Your chord progression is the foundation.

Now experiment.

• Break the chords

• Add rhythm

• Syncopate

• Arpeggiate

• Play them full and heavy

• Or stripped and sparse

This is where vibe happens.

Step 6: Add Structure, Dynamics, and Cadence

Once your musical idea has legs, turn it into a song.

• Break your sections into verse, chorus, bridge, intro, and outro

• Add dynamics so your music breathes

• Use cadences to close phrases

The three that matter:

• Authentic Cadence — V → I (feels like home)

• Plagal Cadence — IV → I (the “amen” cadence)

• Half Cadence — ends on V (suspense)

Structure gives your music shape.

Dynamics give it emotion.

Cadences give it meaning.

Step 7: Polish and Finish

Listen to what you created.

Adjust what feels off.

Tighten what feels loose.

Then finish the damn thing.

Perfection is not the goal.

Completion is.

The only difference between a songwriter and someone who “used to write music” is this ability to finish.

Final Thoughts: Stop Waiting for the Muse

Inspiration is a gift, sure—but it’s unreliable.
Skill isn’t.

The more I practice this process, the more confident I feel. The more I understand the rules, the freer I become to break them.
And the more I write, the more my identity as a musician returns.

If you want to write songs consistently, treat it like a craft.
Not a miracle.

Your best work isn’t hiding from you.

It’s waiting for you to start.