Here we go! 7 tips on lyric writing

But before we go, please read the picture I have put up underneath.

Sound familiar? Well, not to worry anymore. And of course for many, this is a joke in a big way. A lot of sarcasm, but also recognition, in some steps.
But there is help.

Step 13: Pick it up, suck it up and finish that song, all other songs and start new songs and finish them too with my help

How, you ask?
Well, in the next 7 weeks I'll start to give 7 tip & tricks for you to work on. I have explained which steps in my earlier Blog: The 7 skills of Songwriting
Every week you'll get hands-on techniques, easy to use and very helpful when you feel stuck. You can find them everywhere on the internet, but you might need a long search to find some. And, you still need to put in the work to make it successful. I am not going to do the work for you.

Start with this first:

Put your phone away, or when you use it for recording idea's, switch to flight mode. Do not use any other apps. Certainly no Social Media stuff. 
They will kill your creative mood instantly. Do not let anyone or anything distract you. Take a pen and paper notebook, and write things down. If you play a few chords, put it on paper. When you think of a melody, write it down. When you have a phrase or sentence, write, write, write. Did I mention to WRITE it down?!?

And now the real lyrics tips can start.

Tip 1 on Lyrics

Just start writing a story in 10 minutes. Put your timer on 10 minutes and stop after that. It doesn't matter on what topic. Just begin and write. Things you have yesterday, could be a thing. Or things you want to do later today. Doing the laundry and what you did, how you did it. What fabrics went in to the washing machine. How hot was it washed? Full load, or just a small one? It doesn't matter.​ And do not do this for longer than the timer was set to.

Okay, be honest now.
​What did you think after reading tip 1?

Did you think: What is that going to do with writing song lyrics? Yes? Ah, your 'inner critique' is working perfectly. It already questions whether you should continue reading, right? (If not, just bare with me) You even haven't tried this tip, but you think it isn't going to help you. And even if you try this once, do you think you are getting that perfect story? I can give you the answer. NOPE! This is just 1 part of 6 more tips I am giving you to help you out. So, please do this for about 10 minutes for 7 days.

Don't worry about the first times and that nothing seems to come to you. That is okay. You'll write down some little stories before 7 days are over. Keep it coming, it needs to be a part of your new skills. It needs to become a habit, a routine. I'll bet you, after these 7 days you'll sit down and start writing and in no time, the 10 minutes are flying by, and you want to continue writing down more. But please don't.

Tip 2 on Lyrics

Again, set a timer, 3 minutes this time. Make sure, you are not distracted by anything or anyone.
Look around, and pick an object. Or think of one. Write it down. What other word comes to mind? Write that down too. And what word does it make you think of now? And so on, until the Timer rings. Stop writing for now. Pick one word you wrote down. Reset the timer. Start with thinking of a new word that the chosen word made think of. And so on. Timer rings, you stop writing. Do this last step again for 3 minutes max.
When you think of a word that doesn't relate to the words before, just write them down too. It somehow came to you, so your unconscious mind brought it up. Go with the flow of that creativity.

Tip 3 on Lyrics

Use the words from tip 2 and make them in to a story. Start with something that doesn't rhyme or sentences that are long and short mixed alongside. Just make up a story.
Sidenote: When you have written a few songs (or parts) already, you might find yourself just doing the thing I told you not to do, rhyming or adding rhythm to your writing. Or you might even find that a melody comes to mind. Take a few seconds to record that feel of rhythm or melody to your voice recorder. Put it down after having done so and continue with writing the story. You might have set a timer again, or when you feel you have the time, just go with the creative flow.

Tip 4 on Lyrics

In your life, you might have read a book (or 2) that you now remember. For example, a story you liked as a child is okay. Do you still know What the story was about? Write it down the best you can and make the story yours to tell. The parts you remember become your song lyric.

Tip 5 on Lyrics

This is an easy one. Read a new book that you think is fun to read. Do the same afterwards as in Tip 4. Be the fly on the wall inside the story, and make your fantasy overflow with creativity. And maybe you do not want to write fantasy songs, but you prefer real topics. Do it, read those books and get inspired by that. While I am typing this blog, my band Awash has written a song called 'Always Yours' and we are now recording it in the studio. It is about a book on dementia. I'll put a link in this blog, when it will be released. On my Portfolio page you can find a song called 'Shadow or sun' that is on Youtube.
​

Tip 6 on Lyrics

Find a topic within Society, that really is keeping people busy. Something everyone is talking about. Write down your opinion on that topic. What do you feel on that topic? Tell the world why you feel that way! Explain your vision on how to get rid of the problem.

Tip 7 on Lyrics

Buy a book on songwriting Lyrics. This is cheesy and easy to do, but all the tips are just helping you get along a bit and get the creative flow moving. And when you really want to get good at writing songs in general, you need to take time to learn new techniques. Besides getting tips for free, this is the second-cheapest way of learning new skills. If you can afford it, you can also find a teacher nearby, or a music school where these things are taught in classes.

Practice these 7 tips and vary them from time to time.

These will start your creativity (up again, when you got stuck) They do not make you start writing song lyrics. Except for Tip 7. And that was not my main purpose in this blog. But we are going to connect the dot's later throughout my blogs. I'll revere back to these steps when the other 6 skills are written on blogs and connect them together. I am sure you are already connecting some dots yourself, and I encourage you to play around with those.

Thank you for taking the time to read my Blog. If you have questions on these tips, or if you have some of your tips to share with others, please feel free to comment below.
If you would like to get notifications on when the new Blog will be out, please join my newsletter. I'll give you a notification in your inbox, when it is online.

Bonus Tip

Like I said, this first blog might not seem useful, but I assure you it will become handy if you stick around. I will use these Tips to help you write lyrics in the next blogs with all the things you got written down already.
And to help you along that path, you can start to read back on the stories you have written so far. Can you make out a line and can you find consistancy in some of your centences? Sometimes we automatically do that? Or did you write the story with small phrases? When you put them down underneath each other, does it have a bit of the same size? Here is an example:

When I walked towards the beach today, my head was full of thoughts, random thoughts, with nothing specific to think about. But then a girl passed by. She was on a skateboard. Had blue jean shorts on and a yellow tank top. She wore a helmet with flowers on them and her blonde hair pierced with little plucks through the wholes.

Just a little story I wrote in about 3 minutes, making it up along the way.
Now I can start re-arranging it as I just explained:

When I walked towards the beach today
my head was full of thoughts
random thoughts
with nothing specific to think about.

But then a girl passed by.
She was on a skateboard.
Had blue jean shorts on and a yellow tank top.
She wore a helmet with flowers on them
and her blonde hair pierced with little plucks through the wholes.

Now it looks more like a song lyric, because of the technique of just ordering it a bit. Let's see you do this with a few of the stories you wrote. Put them in a comment and don't worry about other things as rhymes, melody or rhythmic issues.