Page 34 - Song Maps - A New System to Write Your Best Lyrics - Simon Hawkins

What is a writable idea?
A writable idea, as I define it, is the combination of two things:
1. A title
2. A strategy for developing the title (a Song Map)
So a title on its own is not a writable idea, it's just a title. If I were to go into a co-write with just a bunch of titles, there would be a massive random element as to whether we'd even come out of the session with a song. I believe that to serve my co-writer well, I need to bring more than just a few titles into the room to justify them spending three hours with me, rather than with another writer who may well be better prepared.
Similarly, a Song Map on its own is not a writable idea. It needs to be put together with a title. A title that resonates with both my co-writer and me. The Map on its own is just a way of signposting how ideas flow around that title to recolor it, to expand it, to generate a payoff that somehow justifies the listener spending three to four minutes of their lives giving it some air time. And 99 cents of their hard-earned cash.
What is a title?
One of my favorite books on lyric writing is Successful Lyric Writing by Sheila Davis. In it she says:
"The title is the name of your product, what the listener asks for at the store. Skilful songwriters know how to make a title both unmistakable and unforgettable."
It's a word or phrase that demands and deserves special treatment in terms of where it is placed in the song, how often it's repeated and how it's set up.
I'd suggest a song's title ideally should:
Be the "business card" of the song – the way someone listening to their radio on their way to work knows their way to connect with the song on Apple Music or to buy it from a store.
Be the central unifying theme – or the subject that every section of the song comes back to, recolors and develops as the song moves on.
Be logically set up by each Verse + Pre-Chorus – by ordering the flow of ideas. Often the ideas in Verse 1 may start off some way from the title, but a well-crafted Pre-Chorus can twist the lyric effectively into the Chorus to create a natural progression of ideas into the Chorus.
Capture the emotion of the song – so that a listener can recall the emotional impact of the song