Twelve Song Writing Tips

Some things I have learned, mostly from friends and colleagues, but from my own experience of writing stuff. 

1.  write about what you know.  write about how you feel, about your life's experience, about a place, a thing, or an event
2.  Try to avoid dating your song.  for example, if you write something about the earthquake in Haiti, when the world forgets about Haiti (as it seems to have now that Japan is on the front pages), your song becomes irrelevant. you can still write about Haiti, but write so that it can fit every other disaster that comes our way.  then it will always be relevant.
3.   Many song writers write songs with a standard verse, chorus, verse, chorus.  If you only follow this format, all your songs will sound the same and you're not interesting. Try mixing up your styles and format.  Try writing a song with no chorus - like a ballad.   Try including a bridge - can be a bridge with lyrics where you change the chord progression, or you can include a bridge as an instrumental interlude.  I've been playing around with this in my recent songs and I'm finding that it is a way more fun and interesting. 
4.   build emotion into your songs.  Songs that have emotion draw in the listener, particularly when it seems to be about them, not about you.   Sometimes you can use that bridge (see point 3) to build emotion in your song. 
5.   Not every song you write is going to be a great song.  Not everyone is going to like your song.  Just because you like it, doesn't mean that everybody else will like it.   GET OVER IT. 
6.  Sometimes I know right away that the song I'm working on sucks, but I'll finish it anyway.  I've got a couple that I wrote that I knew were crappy tunes (well more that a couple actually), but later on I've played around with them with a different piece of music and a new perspective, and used them to create a better song.  Good example of that is a song I wrote called "sittin' here", which was quite uninteresting on the first version.  But, I got inspired by Don to work on a ragtime piece, and I took the lyrics, reworked them, and came up with a song that I do like, and seems to go over well.   I have another song called "Wasp Nest Song" that I wrote in about 5 minutes on a hot Saturday afternoon after I drank a few beers, hit a wasp nest with a hockey stick, and licked my wounds.  I just thought is was a stupid little tune and had no intention of sharing it with anybody.  played it one day for my friends, and it is now one of our staples. Sometimes you may not think much of a song, but you never know what the audience will think till they here it.  So:  "Don't Throw Anything Out"
7.    I have come up with numerous tunes over past 3 or 4 years that start with great enthusiasm, but never seem to go anywhere.  Sometimes I have a line or two, and maybe even one verse, but I can't find anything that works past that.   As Skip Ewing said, "if you don't have a second verse, maybe the song wasn't meant to be".  Now remember point 6, maybe keep it for another time and another place (that line is from a Jimmy Buffet song by the way), but move on.
8.   Motivation:  I still haven't figured this out. I don't know what motivates me.  It always seems to be something different.   I tend to write in spurts.  I've sat down and ripped off 3 song in a day, then come up with nothing for 2 or 3 months.   I know that when I feel pressured (usually pressured by me), I'm not very productive.  For me, song writing is very spontaneous. 
9.    Find your own niche.  I believe everyone has a different built in way of doing things.  Just because something works for me, doesn't mean it will work for you.   Find what works for you.   Find your own style. 
10.  The more you write, the better you will become.   I look back at my earliest songs and compare to those I write now.  I definitely see a growth in my own style.  I still write stinkers, but I'm finding more interesting ways to present a song. 
11.   Listen to others song and read poetry.   Look at others put words together.   Don't be afraid to be influenced by others, but don't plagiarize.  
12.   play your songs with your musical friends.  they can help form a song, add to the song, and make it better.  Be open to advice.   And give them credit when credit is due.

How I Write Songs

I think it would be interesting to share what has helped me write songs.  Now I won't even begin to try and tell you I've become an expert in this subject.  My knowledge of music theory is pretty well next to "0" and my life's record of understanding poetry is quite dismal.   So why then would I have anything useful to say about how to write song?  Good question.  Maybe by sharing how I look at song writing, it might help you, but more importantly, it might help me get a better understanding myself.   

To start, here's a couple of things that have helped me.  In future entries, I'll add a few more thoughts on song writing.

My first few efforts at song writing started with a piece of music and eventually some lyrics mysteriously came to mind.   For songs that I've written this way, I don't always understand where the lyrics come from, but sometimes later on, I look at what's on paper and realize there is some deeper subconscious thing is happening.  I used to say that my songs are just an assembly of words intended to fit a piece of music, but I think I'm starting to see that there really it is much more about the music being a venue for bearing one's soul in lyrics. 

As time passes,  I find I am now writing lyrics and coming up with some music to fit the feeling of the words.   These ideas come from something someone might say or do, or might be about a place or a time.   I've got in a habit of writing these simple little thoughts on paper.  Sometimes, just by putting a few thoughts down, a whole song evolves in no time. 

A good example is a song I wrote called "Two Feet In the Water".   The idea came from a fellow employee who was heading out the door to go to a Caribbean Island vacation.  She said she 'already had two feet in the water.    I sat at my computer and within 15 minutes had the whole lyrics for a song written out.   I knew the music had to have the feel of the sun and the beach, and when I got home, I picked up my guitar, and the music came as quickly as the lyrics.  If you listen to the song, you'll hear a Jimmy Buffet influence, much like Blake Shelton and Kenny Chesney have been influenced in a few of their songs.