This article was taken from the September 2012 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
According to Brian Eno: His Music and the Vertical Sound of Colour, by Eric Tamm, "craft is what enables you to be successful when you're not inspired."
Be ready
Not being in the mood is no excuse. "There's no point in saying, 'I don't have an idea, so I'll just smoke drugs,'" Eno says. "You must stay alert for the idea."
Record everything
Tamm says Eno keeps a voice recorder on him, recording any stray ideas he has. The more useful step is then to analyse these thoughts later.
Don't plan
Start from scratch and go from there. Eno enters the studio with no plans, only instruments and musicians, and "just dabbles until something happens."
Limits
If the free-form approach doesn't work, go the other route: impose rules. For example, Eno will say to himself: "this piece is going to be 3'19" long."
Flash Cards
During the 70s, Eno came up with his Oblique Strategies cards. These prompts are designed to break entrenched patterns of thinking.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
