1) DEADLINES. You need them. "By 6pm, I will have a finished demo song. It does not matter if it sucks, because it will be for purposes of creativity only. If I succeed, I get a beer. If I fail, I must clean the kitchen and then watch an episode of Ugly Betty."

2) JUST FUCKING PLAY. Record whatever riffs you've got. Fuck tempo. Tempo can be beaten to fit, painted to match. So can riffs.

3) IF A TREE FALLS IN THE WOODS. Things you record count. Things you don't record never existed in the first place. Hit the fucking record button.

4) FUCK THE CLICK TRACK. If it's a useful exercise, grab some old shitty drum loops and lay them down. Most any sample CD had enough loop construction in it to give you intro/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus/outtro. Stripe that shit down in any tempo you like and play on top of it. Then play on top of it again. Then play on top of it again and get rid of the shit you don't like.

5) SILENCE YOUR INNER CRITIC. People who play music tend to be erudite consumers of music and well-honed critics. They're used to listening to music that has been refined through several albums' worth of dreck before genius is discovered. You will make dreck. You will not subject your friends to it. Cut an entire album just for you. Then sit on it. Then start recording things that you might make other people listen to. Trust me. Your second "album" will kick the shit out of your first.

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That said, this is my rig:

...and I've composed and recorded exactly 1 song since 1998. So take all that shit with a grain of salt.