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What Shall I W

Figuring Out What To Write read or watched
For Your Next Song! Other people… go outside and talk to people

Social situations - observe how people interact with
Have you ever cleared your schedule, got everyone
you and around you, invent stories about people you
out of the house, finally had the time to write… you
see
sit down to start writing and your mind goes blank?
Nothing, no ideas, no inspiration… just frustration
Emotions - and the situations and people that
and wasted time?
inspired them
In this article I’ll explain strategies to find
Other songs - make a list of songs you love: borrow
songwriting inspiration… you’ll never have to
ideas from the titles, themes and stories in songs
wonder what to write about again.
(read Lyric Writing Reference Tracks, Write Away
July 2019, p8)
A fundamental songwriting frustrations is: “What
should I write my song about?” I’ve heard variations
Other art forms: photos, paintings, sculpture,
of this problem talking to beginner
movies, television, novels, short stories, poems
songwriters, students I’ve coached, on Reddit
threads and in FaceBook posts in songwriting
Online - news (real news and fake news), social
groups: “I need song ideas!” & “What should I write
media, internet searches
about?”
2. Store Your Song Idea
In your head, it might sound like “I don’t know what
to write about!” or the dreaded “That idea isn’t good
Keep and organize your song ideas. There are many
enough!” that you say to every idea that comes to
options. As long as you can keep your ideas
mind.
organized so you can find them when needed,
choose the one that works best for you. I prefer
This can be caused by:
handwriting on looseleaf paper and keeping a
collection of pages in my “Song Ideas Folder.” You
The lack of a process for generating song ideas,
could also use a notebook or type into a google
your unconscious fear of writing a bad song or
document. When it’s time to start a new song, I
the fear of wasting your time on a song that you
review my lists of song ideas to find inspiration.
might not finish.
3. Evaluate Your Song Idea
Let’s use this framework to follow your song idea
from initial inspiration to a finished song lyric:
Whether you are conscious of it or not, these are
1. Find Your Song Idea some of the questions you ask yourself as you try to
2. Store Your Song Idea decide if your song idea is worth pursuing:
3. Evaluate Your Song Idea
4. Explore Your Song Idea Is there enough to this idea that I could
5. DevelopYour Song Idea successfully write a song about this idea? Do I have
6. Write Your Song Idea the writing skills to do it justice? Am I excited
enough by this idea to invest the time to write until
1. Find Your Song Idea it’s finished? Does this idea make me feel strong
emotions? Would it emotionally move an audience?
Here is a partial list of where you can look and
listen for song ideas: If you need a co-writer to set your lyrics to music you
also need to ask yourself:
Stories - stories you’ve told, stories you’ve heard,

08 www.writeawaymagazine.co.uk