Another thing I might try again is writing music to video. When I dabbled with it in university I found it so much easier to have a finite block of time to fill rather than the infinite possibilities of a blank screen. The material on screen also got the ideas/emotions flowing a lot more too, Maybe I could compose the music then remove the video.
What type of music do you want to compose, is it the catchy melody/theme tune or supportive mood music for a film?
If it’s the former, then removing the video will leave you with something that generally doesn’t cut it, since mood enhancement rarely uses the catchy bits. I hear examples of this on Classic FM where they’ll play ‘the battle scene’ from a film and personally it doesn’t work for me.
I saw a BBC 4 programme about film music and one composer said he actively avoids using recognisable themes because it distracts the viewer.
whenever I stop trying to make music for a short while I always feel drawn to go back to it eventually, that magnetism of being drawn into composition
I would say concentrate on getting melodies down, I use the sound recorder utility on my iPhone, I sing and click my fingers for a basic rhythm and then transfer the best ones into Logic Audio to work on.
I also use Garage band on the phone to work up more involved basic tracks and then put those into Logic to finesse. The Alchemy sounds and automatic Drummer styles get you quickly to what sounds like a finished track.
The other method is sitting down with Logic and a decent keyboard in my studio. The latter method is fairly rare these days as I tend to play the same old riffs and chord sequences.