kfaraday wrote:

why do you want to develop a personalised style

To stand out amongst your peers?  To be interesting to your audience?

to be interesting to yourself would also be a valid reason. hey some people are happy making art that isn't anything really unique or different and i guess that's ok for them, but plenty of artists just aren't content with the results if they aren't something distinctly theirs

why do you want to develop a personalised style

To stand out amongst your peers?  To be interesting to your audience?

I do what I want.

IMO, it's really just this!
Don't listen to anyone that tells you what you should be doing.

And also, realistically: Just because you have your own style doesn't mean it will be successful XD

You could build upon the same template throughout your music making career or start a new template for each major project.

But I think one could very often recognize one's own "sonic signature" or whatever.
I recognize my songs based on the sound of the instruments and the shit composition. But I pick those sounds/instruments because I like them. soooo that's not something that's going to go away as I get better at composing and writing stuff. Hence, a signature sound.

Don't really know if this is what you mean by style? But that's at least what I've noticed so far in my own work.

Do your best "you" you can.

My wild guess with such giant words, is to just be happy with your own process, and develop yourself not just the music itself.

So love any sound you make (I invest a lot of time making the right sounds).

Introduce your personality (Your own tastes, even non-musical ones, your own ideas.)

An artist somehow is prism of what he senses. Good artists work a lot on their own stuff. (I mean the whole life aspects).

Don't be afraid to be you, the stylistic aspects of the music should be in a great part, yourself.

You have to persevere, since almost all of the people just can't stand the frustration of the first stages in the creative process. At first, of course you'll think that perhaps  you are unoriginal and plain. Don't hesitate. Just copy everything and make it yours.

And in the long run, you'll notice that you eventually get better if you are happy with the overall situation.

The key is to not compare yourself. Just be you and be unique.

@metatronaut: Don't listen to music. Period. Turn off the radio, don't buy vinyl and erase the music off your phone.

Spend a year away from music which isn't yours, ignore the politics of what it is you're using to create and do nothing but write with anything you have. Want to listen to house? Make it. Want to listen to thrash metal? Make it. Want to listen to a 1920's cover of an early 90's era Kenny G anthem as interpreted by a satanist drinking chocolate milk? Make it. The advice might sound a little draconian but trust me when I say it works.

By doing this you get a better understanding of what it is you actually want to make, opposed to what you feel you need to make because of the equipment you're using. You also develop a unique workflow and avoid the trap of outside influence.