August 16, 2011

SONG WRITING - How Do I Get The Lyrics To The Page?

I can't tell you how many people I have had say to me, "I wish I could write a song, but it just doesn't work for me."  Well, it won't work for everyone, but it will work for a lot more potential writers than you think.  Another question is, "Do you have to be inspired to write?"  If you're writing professionally, the answer is no. If you're writing for inspiration, it depends on if you want to write professionally or for a hobby.  Hopefully you will find a passion for writing and want to take it all the way.
I'm going to share with you the most important secret to getting your song on paper, whether you're inspired or not:  Writing "to the hook" is a trick the pros use. When you're a staff writer with a quota you must have new ideas weekly. You may ask how do I do that, and what is a hook?

  1. A hook is a lyrical phrase that your listener will remember even if they don't remember the lyric to the rest of the song. Such as "Momma don't dance and Daddy don't rock in roll", "Stairway to heaven", "Girls just want to have fun", etc... You must learn to write to the hook to be a successful song-writer!
  2. Start a hook book.  This is a place you store catchy phrases that your listener can latch on to.
  3. Write to the hook. This means all your lyrics must point and lead to the hook.
  4. Get feedback from others.

Of course, this advice just scratches the surface.  However, I hope this will give you some tools to get you started writing your first hit single!

1 comment:

2000guitars said...

But when evenin' rolls around and it's time to go to town, where do you go to rock and roll?