Before jumping in and writing lyrics, unless you’re innately talented, listen to a lot of the
types of songs you’d like to write. Dissect them. How and why do they work? What does
the title suggest and how do the lyrics answer that suggestion? Remember, your listeners
know nothing about the song, story or concept the first time they hear it. Often they don’t
know until they’ve heard your song a few times. Sadly, others will never get it.
Write a little bit at a time and give yourself time to digest it. Usually, new and often
better ideas will crop up. I do this with my writing and my design work. I do a bit and
then walk away to do more important things like play Solitaire or check out what’s hap-
pening on Facebook. For design stuff, I do a few layouts and stick them up on the wall.
Then I give it a few days before I revisit things. If you lose your momentum, don’t sweat
it. The song’s not going anywhere. Unless you’re under a label contract or writing for
commercial applications, there’s usually not a deadline. Chill out. It’s your song. It’s your
time. It will come. Most importantly, don’t force things. Avoid, like the plague, words
that don’t work just because they happen to fit into the structure or rhyme nicely. Your
song needs to make sense, after all.
Creating and Submitting Demos
After a bit, you’ll have a song. Maybe two or three. If you’re really on a roll, you might
have written an entire album’s worth. If you’re happy with them and others are, too, it’s
likely time to make a demo. Here’s where things start to get tricky and potentially expen-
sive.