MusicRadar

Grab a portable recorder and see if you can find inspiration in the real world.

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Every songwriting journey begins with a first step, but taking that first step isn't always easy. In fact, many people find that starting a track is the most difficult part of the creative process.

Fortunately, MusicRadar is here to help – below are 20 things you can try if the well of inspiration has temporarily run dry.

1. Fake a soundtrack
Scoring the soundtrack to a non-existent film can give rise to loads of much-needed new sounds. Having trouble thinking of a scenario? Take a five-minute section from a silent film.

2. It's just a phrase
Sometimes all it takes is a handful of words to bring on an idea, and there are plenty of ways to find phrases. For example, put on a favourite DVD, turn the subtitles on, skip to a random chapter and write down the first few words you see. There you go – an instant theme with which to experiment lyrically, conceptually or any-other-way-you-like-ly.

3. This song is dedicated to…
Whether it be your soul mate, your annoying neighbour or your boss, make a track that's directly inspired by or aimed at someone else. Your best friend may never know that your grime epic was about them, but it doesn't matter.

4. It's a secret
Use something that only you know as the starting point for a new track. You don't have to spill the beans on your hidden knowledge, but a secret can be fertile ground for expression. If you don't have any secrets, use the concept of secrecy – a hidden message in your track, frequencies inaudible to humans, or the clandestine use of equipment, for example.

5. Rescue a sound
Hate that song that's currently getting radio airplay every 20 minutes, even though you have to admit the middle eight's pretty good? Take the chords, rhythm or any other element and save it from the torture it's undergoing. Or better yet, do a cover version to put the original to shame and show them how it should have been done.

6. Wantonly rip off your heroes
Although we all want to make music that's original and – even better – unique, deliberately copying the sound of someone whose output you really admire can be inspiring, fun and educational. And even if you're really blatant in replicating someone else's work, your own sound could eventually emerge from within it.

7. Protest
Even if you don't usually allow politics to interfere with your music-making, the desire to change the world can be a great springboard for an entire track or an element of it – an ultra-distorted drum loop or a relentlessly aggressive bassline, for example. Inspiration could be anything from anti-war protesting to stopping all those TV talent shows.

8. Ordinary world
Musicians through the ages have taken their seemingly ordinary surroundings and turned them into something extraordinary. Why not document the movements of your neighbours or all those customers in your local cafe? And that handful of receipts in your wallet contains all sorts of numbers ripe for interpretation.