Dumb/Baroque

So, I'm trying to write a piece using sonata form, but all of my themes come out sounding ridiculously stupid or Baroque--and I don't want a baroque sounding piece.

Advice, please and thank you?

Try some more dissonance!!!! And some tritone movement.

I'll try that, but I barely get past four measure of pure melody, which is never anything I want to work with. I don't get to even writing the chords. :(

If the melody is hanging you up, work another way. Do the harmony first. Do the rhythm first. Write a countermelody to a melody that doesn't exist, and then write the melody.

Shake it up!

Also, try writing the end of the melody before the start of your melody, so you know where you want it to end.

Establish motives, and use those motives as your building blocks.

Work less with strict melody-harmony, and write countrapunctually to have more than one melodic interest.

Work on paper, in short score (2 or 3 staves), so you don't have to worry so much about your orchestration.

which one are you looking for? classical, romantic or modern?

use less polyphony, use more interesting rhythms, etc.

I really want to write modern-ish music, but with Romantic influences, but I'm having problems.

Thank you guys for all of your suggestions. Any other ideas? :)

try to think of music as things flowing into each other rather than things put together in a mathematical way.

irregular rhythms help.

but seriously, if i were you i would keep my music the way it is, because its YOUR style, so why hide it? its YOU.

I really want to write modern-ish music, but with Romantic influences

Use borrowed chords and non-harmonic tones, unrelated to related keys. (Sounds skeptical, but it isn't.)

If you are working in c minor, borrow stuff from F# or B or Ab instead of G, F, Eb.

Thank you all so much. I really, really do appreciate it. :)