Writing’s faster if you know what you sound like.
I finished two vocal arrangements this week. In both cases, I felt propelled to faster outcomes by knowing what my writing sounds like. I could ignore other musical choices because they didn’t reflect my own musical perspective.
Certainly, there are times to expand your sound, to experiment with choices you don’t normally use. And your sound will evolve with each project. But as a rule, spending the time to know what you sound like pays longterm dividends.
How do you find out what you sound like? Write more. Write more. Write more.
It’s only with enough projects finished that you can begin to know what you sound like.