Writing songs is much like writing good short stories or a fine novel. As Truman Capote once said, it’s 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration. When you want to make your living in music, you have to work at it. The same is true for song writing. You may have a great idea, a classic line of lyrics or a fantastic title, but you still have to produce the entire song.

 

Is That All There Is?

Of course, this subtitle is a reference to the great song for which Peggy Lee is often remembered. It is a wonderful title and the song that goes with it is very good as well. The question is, did the entire tune – melody, lyrics and all – just happen because Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were inspired? Probably not.

In fact, some successful songwriters insist that good songs can and will be written even when the writer isn’t inspired by a sound, a sunset, another person or another song. Sometimes writing songs does happen as if by magic. A musician/songwriter will sit down at the piano, with a guitar or with a pen and paper and the song just flows out with little effort.

 

It would be nice if we could make a lot of money by doing this – listening to our muse, staring into the distance and writing down the lyrics and structure of the next great popular tune. Unfortunately, this is not the reality of song writing most of the time.

 

As Capote said of writing novels, there is no trick to it. There are skills to be developed that may lead to success. Writing of any type is a craft that can be learned and perfected. Writing songs is no different.

How to Get Better

 

The route to writing songs that are “good” is the same as it is for any musician – practice. While none of us want to hear that “p” word, it’s the truth. A select few of us may be capable of creating a song out of inspiration, but the majority of good and great songs come from good old work.

This process of working our way to a good song can begin with inspiration. We may be inspired by hearing the songs of a favorite band or singer then move ahead with writing our own “hit.” Maybe the momentum comes from a new relationship or the break-up of a long-time partnership. Songs on this subject will fit in almost every genre.

 

Maybe you have been through a unique situation of another kind and feel that the joy, sorrow, fear….whatever emotions there were….can be the ingredients of a good song. The best advice is: Write it!!!

 

Take your cues from good books or movies. If you see a good line or two while browsing the millions of entertaining Web sites available, use that as the seed for your song. 

 

No matter how you get your inspiration for writing songs, pour yourself into it and be persistent. 

 

Jim Hale

Contributing Author