Tips to write lyrics

[Hannah Swank]

Hi there!

I sometimes have such a hard time writing lyrics and was wondering if anyone has any helpful tricks and tips to share!
Thank you!

[Peggy]

Hi Hannah,

Welcome to Songstuff. I encourage you to start a topic in Introduction and tell us abit about your music interests. Most of all have fun and just write, write, write.  Our lyric critique board can help you get a more detailed look at your lyrics. Members are there to help and to offer their perspective. 

 

Some links that might help.

 

https://www.songstuff.com/song-writing/article/improve_your_lyrics_writing/

 

https://www.songstuff.com/song-writing/article/lyrics_function_and_form/

 

https://www.songstuff.com/song-writing/article/lyrics_critique_for_songwriters/

 

 

We have some great lyric challenges that get you thinking.

 

https://forums.songstuff.com/forum/200-writing-challenges/

 

 Do you play any instruments? 

 

If you have any questions just ask.  Great to have you join in with us.

 

Peggy

[John W Selleck]

Hi Hannah,

And welcome. They are starting up mentoring sometime soon. I will be one of them for "Simply Lyrical: Songs from the heart", if that is something you would be interested in. You can hear some of mine in the links below. You can also PM me if you like.

[john]

Hey Hannah

 

Keep a note pad with you for jotting down ideas. I use my phone for melodies and the notes app for lyrics, though I do prefer a physical notebook. Make a habit of jotting down ideas immediately.

 

Keep a note of common saying and interesting phrases. Then try playing with them to create opposite meanings or alternate meanings.

 

A pastime i enjoy, especially if I am on my own, is to stop at a coffee shop and people watch and jot down what comes to mind. Observations, imagined back stories, things I overhear that sound funny/interesting

 

Cheers

 

John

[Hannah Swank]

Thank you so much for the quick replies! Going to give all of these a look and try and let you know about my process!

[Mahesh]

Here's an interestingly weird exercise that helped me in my early days of songwriting.

 

• Take a pen and a sheet of paper or notebook and find yourself a comfortable spot where you will be left unbothered for the next 10 minutes.
• Take a deep breath. Set a timer for exactly 5 minutes on your clock or phone.

 

Before we start the timer, let's set some rules.

 

• You are not allowed to decide what to write about until the the timer starts.
• You start writing on your paper as soon as the timer starts ie., not later than the first second.
• You are not allowed to pause for more than exactly 1 second at any point until the timer runs out for any reason. Yup. You've gotta keep writing.

 

Sounds daunting yet? lol Okay let's even the stakes a bit. As long as you are following the rules above, you can write about whatever you want! And when I say whatever, I do mean it.  A lot of the time when you are trying to do this exercise, you will end up struggling to catch up with your own thoughts. There's no time to think about what to write and your thoughts in the moment are sorta being demanded onto a paper. lol But this helps greatly in negotiating some space between you and your mind which allows for creativity to flourish.

 

A great song is a mere side effect of a great songwriting process or thoughtful muse. Generally when trying to write songs, if we jump to visualize the end goal too much and too early then we lose out on honing the process itself that produces these results. This exercise is a great way to explore your own mind and to practice ''outer expression of inner emotion''. The content that you end up with on the paper might probably be useless and will go to the trash. But those 5 minutes spent in engaging yourself in a free form writing/journaling activity would be good lessons learnt in the art of lyric and songwriting.

 

Once you get the hang of this, you can even have cue cards with random words written wherein you will pick a card as soon as the timer starts and immediately start writing about whatever that word brings to the moment. You'll be surprised how even a boring word like "yawning" can take you to a mountain that you remember waking up on while reminiscing the cold morning mist that accompanied your cigarette and coffee.

 

Anyways, have fun!

 

 

[MikeRobinson]

I still remember what Charles M. "Sparky" Shulz said about creating the comic strip, Peanuts.  He created 17,897 strips, one at a time, by hand.  He did it through a rigorous, invariable routine:  every day began exactly the same.  He "doodled" with a pencil on a pad of paper until he came up with a funny idea, then he drew it.  This was his self-appointed job, and he treated it that way throughout his entire life. 

 

(Ironically, dying on the very same day that his final strip appeared.  Truly, "he never retired."  Many comic artists since him have therefore been careful not to make that same mistake ...  He is buried beneath a US Army plaque – he was a Sergeant – with a more-fitting granite memorial a few feet away.)

[Cody]

On 8/12/2020 at 4:02 PM, Mahesh said:

Once you get the hang of this, you can even have cue cards with random words written wherein you will pick a card as soon as the timer starts and immediately start writing about whatever that word brings to the moment. You'll be surprised how even a boring word like "yawning" can take you to a mountain that you remember waking up on while reminiscing the cold morning mist that accompanied your cigarette and coffee.

 

I particularly like this method, or variations there of(any random title generator, etc can be a spark for an idea).......even if the idea strays from whatever the "cue" was it can lead some interesting places.  

 

I use this a lot http://stoney.sb.org/eno/oblique.html

almost never do/use anything it says, but usually something will get wheels to turning

 

I agree too with the just write, write, write, don't worry about even if it makes sense/whatever or write even if its something you don't "want" to write about often your muse has ideas of its own, learn to trust it.