How many times have you stared at your computer screen, a blank sheet of paper, out the window or into space hoping for that Lennon and McCartney moment?

We all have songwriters block and can go for weeks waiting for a moment of inspiration. The reality is that good songwriting is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

But check out my 8 top tips to increase the odds of striker musical gold.

1. Figure out the melody without using any chords. Often people sit on a guitar or a piano and they tend to head to the chord patterns they know. Singing accapella allows you to be free of any chords that may get in the way of the first part of the process - remember a good song or score is melody first!

2. If you can, then switch around the instrument you are writing on. Many songwriters can play guitar and piano, if your guitar isn't helping then go sit on your piano; in my view different instruments come up with different songs. If you're a drummer than try out some beats as a starting point.

3. If you are used to writing from melody first, then try out some riffs and jamming a vocal around them. Or try some loops - the beat on Rihanna's Umbrella was a Garageband loop, so don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

4. Turn off your DAW and get out your instrument - DAWs can get in the way of songwriting and soon become a distraction, before you know it you're messing with plug-ins or dealing with crashes!

5. If it works for you then have a go at collaboration, it works for some and not for others - it seemed to work for the Beatles.

6. NEVER, I repeat NEVER ditch ideas. Keep every unfinsihed lyric, melody, riff and session. You never know when you might need it to finish your masterpiece.

7. Get inspired; if you are dry and have had no inspriation then go watch a movie, go to a gig, buy a new album, go for a walk, drive, sleep, read, eat, have sex - all ways to relax and recharge your batteries. People are like wells, if the well is dry then don't expect to draw any water!

These are my thoughts, so over to you, what would you suggest?