Cultivating Chaos: Getting Organized for Repeatable Songwriting Success

Hey there sonic superhero! Ever feel like your songwriting process resembles a jazz improvisation session gone rogue? Or that bad roommate who you can’t even convince to get out of bed in the morning? You're not alone! But fear not, help is at hand. If you're seeking a roadmap to navigate the creative wilderness of songwriting, you're in the right place. 

*The bottom of this article provides a quick summary of the list for quicker reference. 

What if you didn’t have to be in “the mood” in order to write productively and successfully?

What if you didn’t have such a daunting creative mountain to climb every time you needed an idea, but didn’t have one in mind at the moment?

What if you had a sort of roadmap that could guide you and your sweet creative brain down a lush path full of melodic butterflies and lyrical honeysuckles whenever you wanted?

Well. I guess I can’t promise butterflies. But I can promise an easier way to build up your writing muscles and shift your mindset to make your own creativity even more reliable and accessible.

The following guide is the byproduct of some very frustrated years as a songwriter, often avoiding spaces of intentional creating because I was so afraid of failing, waiting for inspiration to strike but terrified that it never would. I do wish somewhere down the line, someone would’ve told me that songwriting doesn’t have to be some mythical, elusive moment that only comes along when you’re lucky. It’s a thing you can try and succeed in, whenever you want. That’s not to say you’ll automatically write a Top 40 piece every day with the following framework, but it can reliably build up your writing momentum and condition your brain in new ways to find and grow ideas at any time, in any mood, in any setting.

So here. Five rules to keep in mind, and ten steps to walk through to reliably generate song ideas any time you want.

The Five Golden Rules: Your Compass in the Great Sea of Songwriting

1. Songwriting is Open-Note

I remember with great fondness any teacher who ever gave open-note tests. It’s not that it wouldn’t be challenging, but it was a promise that if I prepared well, I could perform well without unnecessary pressure. Consider yourself a songwriting farmer, tilling the soil of your daily life, planting seeds from conversations, photos, quotes, and journal entries. If you need some other support, there is a growing number of apps that make new ideas a breeze. One of my favorite places to start is BandLab. Start playing around and see what it sparks for you!

The notion that creativity must sprout from a vacuum? Toxic. Spit it out. The world is your songwriting buffet. Feast away!

2. Inspiration - An Unpredictable Muse 

If you’re waiting for a lightning bolt of inspiration to strike, you might find yourself waiting a while. Inspiration is a fickle creature, more like an unexpected bonus than a consistent pal. Don’t sit around waiting for her. Start writing, and she may just show up uninvited.

3. Speak Yourself Into Song - Write Like You Talk

If your lyrics feel like a thesaurus threw up on a page, you're probably doing it wrong. Songwriting isn’t about using fancy words; it’s about expressing your thoughts and feelings. Write like you would speak, and your authenticity will shine through.

4. One Song, One Focus - The Power of Cohesion 

If your song is about love, loss, existential dread, and the cuteness of kittens, you might want to narrow your focus. This doesn’t have to mean that it’s one-dimensional, but songs communicate best when it’s not too difficult for your audience to track along with the story you’re telling and how the pieces all fit together. Let each song have its moment in the sun.

5. Write Drunk, Edit Sober, as the saying goes. 

Fun fact, Hemingway never said that. Sorry for the way we skipped you on that one, Peter De Vries… Anyway. Let your initial writing flow without judgment, like a drunken poet on a creative spree. Also, trust me, it’s a very liberating moment to choose not to filter yourself (like, at all) for a few minutes. But when it comes to editing, put on your spectacles, brew a strong coffee, and be ruthless. Kill your darlings, as the old saying goes. This balance ensures that you don’t miss out on any of the subconscious things your brain might want to air out, and you’ll have much more to work with when the editing process comes. Your work will feel more thorough and full.

Carrying these tenets into writing time, use the next ten steps any time you sit down to write. 

Ten Steps for Consistent Songwriting

1. Topic Selection - Choosing a Palette

  Start with a topic, any topic. Chew on it, question it, let it simmer in your mind. From the mundane to the profound, every idea has song potential. What makes a topic worthwhile isn’t that it’s the most novel or unique concept you’ve ever heard of. What makes it unique and worthwhile is you. And that’s enough.

2. Song Titles - Starting to Paint the Picture

Generate ten potential song titles. These consist of anything that feels connected to your topic. Phrases, names, places, concepts, situations. Don’t overthink it. One writing group I led last year had the topic of “summertime” and the title they chose was Passenger Seat. The topic reminded them of going on long drives with a significant other who wasn’t around anymore. A pretty generic topic led to a very specific story that turned into an absolutely powerful song. This is a wonderful exercise in trusting yourself.

3. Diving Deeper - Filling the Creative Cup 

Pick a title and let your mind run wild. What images, situations, and feelings does it conjure up? Dive into this creative pool and swim around in it. Ask yourself questions about those images and feelings. Where do they come from? What do they feel like? How are they related

4. Thesis Statement - The Heart of Your Song

Create a one-sentence summary of your song. Yes, I really mean one sentence. Force simplicity and clarity at this stage. This is the heart of your song, the guidepost for every element of your writing. Make sure everything in your song points back to this statement in some way. That probably means this sentence won’t be exhaustive in detail, but just enough to unify all of your sections.

5. Actually Writing - The When and Why of Sections 

This one you can take how you want to, but personally, the following is easiest for me. Always start with your chorus. This is the main focus of the song, probably most closely related to your thesis statement from the last step. Next up, write your verses. These are the setups or questions that your chorus answers. Your verses set up a space that your chorus fills. They set the stage for it. You need to know what kind of space to build, which is why the chorus comes first. If you choose to write one, your bridge is an emphasis of the rest of the song, so it needs to come last. 

So. Chorus – Verses – Bridge is the order I prefer. Until you confidently know that a different approach works better for you, start here.

Also, trust your ideas. If you sit down with all this and you already had an idea for a verse, then follow that and trust it. Only use what serves you.

6. Verify Focus - The Sanity Check 

Make sure everything in your song aligns with your focus. If a line doesn’t fit, it’s out. This isn't a democracy; it's a song-tatorship. Sorry for the dad joke.

For real though, are your sections cohesive and telling one story? If you’ve found yourself spinning three or four different threads, you need to separate them. The good news, you have threads for three or four different songs. Look at you!

7. Editing - From Rough to Refined

This is where the sober editor comes in. Swap awkward lines, balance syllables, carve your song out of the raw marble of your initial draft. Like a sculptor, remove anything that doesn't serve your song. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry gave us the quote, “perfection is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.”

Bear in mind, perfection is not the goal here, but the mindset behind that quote is a helpful one to operate in to make sure the essence of your song doesn’t get lost in the weeds.

8. Honesty & Singability - The Core of a Memorable Song 

We can call it honesty, authenticity, sincerity, etc. You know you’ve heard songs where the personal expression might feel forced or out-of-touch, maybe even shallow. I’ve also written and published songs that I listen to now and realize some of my lines really didn’t mean much. They were too vague. It’s important to ask yourself whether your lyrics sound real to your experience. If it doesn’t sound honest, it won’t connect with listeners. This step is all about making sure your song flows and rings true.

Singability is a good thing to consider for your audience. If your melody is intentionally jumpy and a bit disjointed and that’s the best creative representation of your song, that’s totally cool. But it’s worth considering that melodies whose notes are closer together and smoother in their progression tend to be easier to remember.

9. Storyboarding Dynamics - The Dance of Tension and Release

Songs aren’t monotone; they're a dance of tension and release. Plan your dynamics, creating a journey for your listener. And for those that need to hear it - dynamics isn’t volume or how hard you hit an instrument. This can be the arrangement and number of elements/instruments in a certain section, and how you can use subtle mechanics to suggest a feeling of continual growth and change throughout your song. Plan ahead on how you want the song to feel overall, then how each section plays a role in that. This storyboard will help guide your decisions on what sounds or elements can accomplish the goal. Usually that process gets you little further than strumming harder. Spare that innocent instrument.

10. Finalize and Feedback - Perfecting Your Masterpiece 

Once you've polished your song to a gleaming shine, seek feedback. Remember, no song is beyond improvement. I’ve both been the witness and the offender when it comes to not getting a second opinion on songs. Find other writers you trust. They’ll tell you if a certain idea doesn’t land, if certain lyrics feel clunky, if a melody falls flat, and help you identify ideas that will make your song stronger. 

This isn’t the time to guard your ego. Your ego is only interested in feeling safe and assured of where it already is. Your creativity has to go beyond it if it’s going to grow.

Need a place to get that feedback? Join our free Discord server where you can pitch your demos, lyrics, and melodies to find feedback and potential collaborators for your song!

The Unending Journey of Songwriting

And there you have it, your songwriting survival guide! Remember, the journey of songwriting is an ongoing adventure, full of surprises, challenges, and endless growth. So, put on your musical hiking boots, grab your lyrical compass, and venture forth into the wild unknown. Happy songwriting, melodious explorers!

What are your thoughts? Would you change anything, any other songwriting steps you think are missing? Help the rest of the community out, let us know in the comments!

To all the stories you’re going to tell,

Tyler

If you’re an artist looking to get your ideas off the ground and into the airwaves, find me at www.mantramediahouse.com and let’s talk about how to get your music out into the world!

TL;DR;JWW (just wanna write)

Five Rules for Writing

● Songwriting is “open-note.” Use reference songs, conversations, pictures, quotes, journal entries. You get to “farm” or “mine” for inspiration. Don’t fall into the trap that inspiration has to come out of thin air.

● Inspiration isn’t a rule - it’s a bonus.

● Write how you would talk.

● Keep the focus - write one song about one thing.

● “Write drunk - edit sober...” This simply means not filtering yourself early on. Give

yourself material first, narrow it down later.

Ten Steps for Writing

1. Pick a topic. Literally anything. Discuss, question it - what does it bring to mind?

2. Within your topic, generate ten potential song titles. You can always change it later if you

need to, this is just to get you started.

3. Pick one title, but others might end up contributing to your lyric ideas. Keep fleshing out what

images, situations, and feelings come to mind.

4. Generate a one-sentence “thesis” of what your song is about. 

5. Write your chorus, then your verses, then your bridge.

6. Verify focus.

7. Edit. Swap awkward lines. Trim up syllabic balance.

8. Is it singable? Musically cohesive? Does it sound honest?

9. Storyboard your dynamics. Tension and release.

10. Finalize, then get feedback.