Familiarity breeds contempt, which is certainly true of a composer and his themes.

Scenario: A motive is written, put aside to provide some distance, and then revisited a few dyas later. Still being satisfactory, it was then choosen as the basis for a new piece. A melody is then written based on it, played a few gazillion times, sung a few more, analyzed, reworked, played some more, tweaked a bit more and then finally, a melody is born.

So by the time the melody is written I have already lived with it for a few days and heard it so many times it's a wonder I even continue with the piece at all!

From the author's over-familiarity with his subject comes the tendency to develop it too much too soon, forgetting that the listener has never heard it before.

This has always been a problem with me. That is why I often follow a few guides, one of theme being "Develop slowly, and make your development audibly linked to the main material."

Let's face it. If you are trying to write something new, different, or just pushing yourself further than before (and reaching for something new is the composer's M.O.) then you will be uncomfortable and this can lead to stress and a decidedly UNrelaxed state of mind - the antithesis of a creative state.

I find that a creative state of mind is a relaxed and stress-free state of mind. Which is ironic because when you are striving for a big idea, as stated above, you will most likely feel stressed. But stay relaxed we must...

When the going gets tough, when an idea won't budge, taking a break is not the solution. I take a breath, walk around the room and start to sing the idea, play it on the piano, relax, lie down, whatever. Letting go at this point is always bad, you must stay immersed in the idea for it to yield. You must keep pushing to gain momentum.

Gotta push, hang in there, but stay relaxed as you do it.

Although this is usually uncomfortable, the idea invenitably starts to yield, to move, gaining momentum and if I work long enough (usually 2 hours or more) I can barely catch up to it! But you gotta work long enough, without break or interruption for this to happen.

It's not easy, though. It takes stamina to hang in there long enough to build that momentum.