hey maz,
yes, i agree too that the most common is the verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus pattern, especially during the glory days of boybands back in the mid 90's . but since rock bands, alternative, indie, and all their derivatives (shoegaze, triphop, etc), there has been a constant growth of variety in how each artist writes their lyrics. of course the common pattern still works, i still feel most comfortable with that pattern when i'm writing lyrics, but i'm currently exercising writing in a different way (which is partially inspired by you! so, thanks for the inspiration)
i like how (some) emo bands write their lyrics, it's not your usual sweet-talk, but rather more personal and more diversity in the words they use; country singers are also great lyricists, down to earth and real; i'm not too fond of hip-hop though, since their lyrics are shallow and repetitive imo, and tend to just show off their bling; jazz is cool too, for those late night sessions
i think it's true that a lyricist should have a rhyme dictionary and an ordinary one, to find rhymes and synonyms for finding and using better words. i've got one myself and it's really useful.