One of the most common frustrations songwriters face is not a lack of ideas, talent, or inspiration. It is the growing pile of half-finished songs that never quite make it across the line. I’ve got them, you’ve got them. You…
Most songwriters don’t stop writing because they’ve lost their love for music. They stop because life quietly gets in the way. One week turns into two. Two weeks turns into a month. Nothing dramatic happens. No big decision is made.…
Every songwriter I know wants to write better songs. Not just different songs or more songs, but songs that feel alive, connected, and full of meaning. I recently came across a post on Songwriting.net called “5 Steps to Becoming a…
The start of a new year has a habit of turning songwriting into some sort of to-do list. And as we all know about setting songwriting targets, goals or resolutions in the past, by February, most of that energy has…
Revision is one of the most respected parts of songwriting. We’re told to rewrite, refine, and polish. To cut the weak lines, strengthen the chorus, and keep working until the song “gets there.” All of that advice is sound. Revision…
Most songwriting advice focuses on technique. Chord choices. Rhyme schemes. Song structures. Productivity hacks. All useful, all necessary, and all slightly incomplete. Because long before a song takes shape on a page or in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), something…
One of the quiet traps songwriters fall into is thinking about the audience too early in the songwriting process. These questions feel responsible, even professional. But when asked too soon, they can quietly derail a song before it has a…
There’s a line from American writer Dave Eggers that keeps circling back in my mind: “What matters is that you do good work. What matters is that you produce things that are true and will stand.” It’s one of those…
You know, there’s a particular weight that unfinished songs carry. Not the kind that sits loudly on your desk, but the quiet kind. The song you keep meaning to start. The lyric you circled weeks ago. The melody that showed…