Page 41 - Song Maps - A New System to Write Your Best Lyrics - Simon Hawkins

Step 2 - Select a Map
I am going to cover seven universal Song Maps in detail in the next chapter. But your choice of which Map to use is as much a creative decision as your choice of title.
Things you may wish to consider when selecting a Map include:
The kind of development you can hear most easily working for the title The message you want to get across
The genre of song you are writing
The artist you are looking to pitch it to
Where you see the song being sung
The emotion of the song–is it upbeat, thoughtful, anthemic, etc.
Whether you can bring anything from your experience to the title
If it lends itself to a specific story
If the song might benefit from using different time frames, places or roles
If you are using word play, plot twist or another device which requires setup
If there is a variation to the seven Song Maps covered that would work better for your idea
Having looked at the various Song Maps, it is possible that your title will work with some different Song Maps. If this is the case you may wish to think about how the title could be developed for each Map and after that decide which one you will run with.
It's important to remember that this is not a life decision. If you find it's not working out, you can always go back to your second or third choices at a later stage.
Step 3 - Draft a writable idea
Drafting a writable idea is simply the process of assigning elements of a plot to specific sections of your song.
So, having selected your Song Map, this is the time to sketch out how your title will be developed into your writable idea.
As part of this you will have to assume a song form, such as:
AAA AABA VCVC VCVCBC VVCVCBC
Or any other variation you feel appropriate. Note that if your song structure has no Chorus (e.g. AAA, AABA), your Refrain should be used to capture the ideas I have assigned in these Maps from the Chorus.