Q: "I've been writing music for awhile, and would like to write lyrics too. Does anyone know a hard and fast rule, that I could recite to myself that would encapsulate the process of writing?"
A: It's helpful to write every day, journal writing is a good creative 'starter'. Carry a notebook and jot down bits of ideas & phrases & conversations.
When writing:
- think of an image or a feeling or a story
- brainstorm it in a visual way without worrying about structure of any kind
- come up with a 'catch phrase' - 3 to 5 words, that captures the idea you want the song to express... as you write, continue to focus on this one idea
- tell the story of the song as visually as possible,
- avoid 'yoda speak'
- make your lines conversational
- check your grammer
think of a song like a story... we need a setting, characters, 'forward motion', things to 'happen'... try to answer the questions 'who, what, where, when, why'.
when re-writing:
-recognize cliches
- work to develop a consistent rhyme scheme & rythmatic meter in the verses, have a DIFFERENT rhyme scheme and meter in the chorus
- any lyric line should be able to 'stand on its own'
- everything in the song should lead to the 'conclusion' of the hook
Personally, I used to write by sitting down with the guitar and improvising over chord progressions and writing down what felt good. That's okay, but my songs lacked structure. So nowadays I tend to write the lyrics first, and, once they have a solid form/structure, then I start foolin' with music.
Also, know that ALL writers right LOTS of not-so-good stuff and then RE-WRITE... or put it in a drawer (I have a couple stuffed full) LOL
no matter what, keep writing!
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