[*FeNdEr*ChIcK*]

Me and my best friend love listenin to classic rock (The Who), and when we sit together and write songs, I don't always write dark-type songs, and she usually does....and when I write a song, I get stuck a lot. It starts out really good, but then it just kinda fades away....I don't know if it's cause I lost my inspiration, or what. What's a good topic to write about?

[allthumbs]

Write about what you know. What you have seen around you. What you have felt.

[*FeNdEr*ChIcK*]

thanks, but sometimes that's hard too. cause it starts out good, but doesn't end good....so i don't know what to do with that part of it...

[Lcjones]

FenderChick,

If you think it's too hard, then you're talking yourself right smack into the middle of hard. Dont let yourself fall into that trap. I read your other post and and you've got a good start on a lyric. Just let the words flow, which sounds easier than it is. But certainly no need to stop working on a lyric.

Sounds like you're not giving yourself enough leeway nor enough credit! First rule in lyric writing is don't hold back! Lyric writing is no place to be shy and holding back ideas or notions. If you get to a point when you're writing a lyric and its like all your thoughts stepped out on you, take a pen an paper and just start writing anything down the comes into your mind. It doesn't have to relate to the lyric. Just write the words. Look out the window and write what you see. Don't think about it. Just write it down. Don't dwell on one thing. Just write it down. Don't write long sentences or paragraphs about what you see. Rather, use just one or two words to describe what you see or hear or smell. Just write it down. I use this trick all the time. After you're done go over the list and see if anything you wrote could be translated into your lyric.
There may be something there, and then again you may come up blank. So then go get a pop or coffee or an ice cream and try it again afterwards.

Writing lyrics is not easy and just like learning guitar it takes time and practice to understand the process. And then it take time and practice to let yourself go. I mean it's like free-falling. Let yourself go. You just go weightless and the inside of your body seems to be in another dimension and disconnected. Relinquish your body to the physical world and let your mind do the traveling.

With your friend, try doing "what if" scenarios on your lyrics. Play games with the words. Work with rhymes. Work with using different syllabic words. Change the meter of your lines by using different words. This is called collaboration. So go ahead and start collaborating!

And by all means, either buy or use online tools like rhyming dictionarys, thesaurus'.

Hope this helps you get beyond the "it's hard to do" thing".

Les

[Nem]

great advice there mr jones I guess I have the same problem with writing lyrics, I just try too hard, trying to make it clever, or trying to make it catchy. I think im finally learning that you cant force good songs

I think everyone has it in them to write a good song, just different people put up different sized mental barriers which are harder to break away from, but when you do, its alllll there and it just flows

[Lcjones]

Hey Nem,

Good to see so many writers on board! What I'm going to mention below is about how I work. I'm sure professionals may frown on some of my ideas. But after many years of putting pen to paper, these are some of my thoughts on lyric writing. I also write these notes to help me better understand my own work.

It is a rare thing indeed to write a lyric that is completely finished and polished on the first time out. And when that does happen, that writer was truly inspired.

For as many lyricists as there are, there are at least as many ways to write a lyric. With that said, I hope I can shed some light on the subject.

I'm not going to get into the mechanics of lyrics right now. Rather, the way to start getting your ideas down and on paper. In the world of lyric writing, re-write is king. Rewrite, rewrite rewrite. Learn that term right off the bat. Now on with it ......

One of the first things you should do is get a notebook or journal to write down your moments of inspiration. (..at the very least, make a directory on your computer and call it "MyLyrics" and use a text editor to write your ideas down..) I mean, those times when in a flash, brilliance, inspiration and creativity all meet at the same point in time and space, like that Beatles lyric, umm, what was it now, yes, "I Wanna Hold Your Hand". At the moment that single was line penned, way back when, all the Beatles could have retired and lived a very prosperous life the rest of their days.

The primary objective is to get your first gut feelings and ideas on paper. And that idea maybe nothing more than a single line. It maybe an entire verse. Maybe something as simple as the sky is blue and so am i. So now you have this idea on paper and you've spent some time on it and have a couple of verses and a chorus.

That was the easy part. Because now you've got to make sure what you've written actually makes sense. And this is the re-write rule. The process of rewriting is where all the work is done. This is where you muster all your word mastery skills (I like term "word-smithing") and start making your lyric "unique" and entirely different than what any one else may write. This is where you make a lyric your lyric.

Even after you re-write a lyric, you may fine new words to refine your lyric which prompts another rewrite session. And now, just as you're banging your head against the wall saying, "What? Re-write again?", let me also say, there is a time to put it away. There is a time when nothing more can be done for that lyric, so call it a day.

We can get into the mechanics of lyrics later on if you're interested. There is a lot going on. Like rhyming, assonance, consonance, timing, which is not to be confused with meter, bridges, choruses, AABA verses and just a whole passel load of things.

Well, thats a very fundamental and broad start. But I hope is gives a little insight to whats going on.

Thanks.

Les