Page 36 - Song Maps - A New System to Write Your Best Lyrics - Simon Hawkins

This is what it's like when we have a great title, a hooky melody with some edgy harmonies, a fabulous artist and a great production showcasing the song... but the plot or development of the lyric lets us down. It's a perfect storm in more than one way. Not having the right development can let everything down.
This is why mapping the development of our lyric is so critical if we want to write the best songs of our career. When we map the flow of ideas, we ensure we have all the right things in the right place. We plan for success in our writing. This is where Song Maps come to our aid: a development strategy is represented by a Song Map.
Summary
In this chapter, we've covered why we need to honor every idea, why the flow of ideas is important in writing lyrics, the songwriter's secret weapon and the fundamental concepts that make up Song Mapping.
The next chapter builds on this to explain how to use Song Mapping. Yes, we are going to get practical! This is important because the process of Song Mapping is just as important as the Song Maps themselves. So I'll introduce you to my four-step process for writing with Song Maps, how to write any title and how to use Song Maps in the writing room.
Exercise
STOP! If you haven't downloaded your copy of the Song Maps Workbook yet, click HERE and download it now! If you have a copy of the Song Maps Workbook, this would be a good time to complete Exercise 1 – Collecting Titles.