Worthy quote: Devin Townsend

Here's some food for thought from one of the wildest, most aggressive individual (& definitely an under-rated genius) in metaldom: Devin Townsend

... instead of picking up the guitar & riffing until something comes out, try to think of a riff in your head first, then find the notes on the guitar afterwards. The guitar should be a translator for the ideas in your head.

I've fallen into this trap so very often; picked the guitar up, widdled but nothing concrete happened in terms of ideas. Then lethargy took over & suppressed creativity. However, to avoid this frustration, I've learnt to think first before getting into action, have that idea play in my mind before figuring it out on the guitar. What Mr. Townsend said here is definitely a gem of an advice; the guitar is a translator, primarily. It shouldn't take over the player's control of his/ her ideas. But we are often weak-willed, we love to hear our instruments in action first, we often get into this rather subconsciously. So the next time you play, stop; think first before you widdle & get stuck in a rut.