Been feeling like I'm in a bit of a rut with melodies, especially if I find a chord progression I want first. I find I end up using a lot of the same movements, motifs, and rhythms, and it's beginning to get a bit samey. Even when they are different the broader development feels samey (first cycle ends low, second cycle ends higher, etc etc)

I know most of it is really trial and error, and I do a lot of that, but sometimes I just can't break from this groove I seem to be stuck in. I am better and writing melodies when I'm developing the chords with them, but sometimes I have a progression I want to use beforehand, and I just cannot make a melody that doesn't resemble past melodies either in their specifics, or just the overall feeling of how they develop.

I know a bit about sentence structure with melodies, but it feels like I always use the same "tricks" to distinguish the sections if that makes sense.

I was wondering if anyone has any ways they practice melodies beyond just trial and error.