Tips for Songwriting: Talk It Out

[The following is a post that was originally published on November 24, 2012 on SongwritingandMusicBusiness dot com, our old website]

Ever wonder why co-writing seems easier (after you get the hang of it) than writing by yourself does?

Ever feel stuck and can’t figure out how to get your song out of your head and onto the paper?

Try talking to yourself.  Everyone knows that songwriters are crazy anyway.  Nobody is going to think a thing about it if they hear you talking to yourself.

Seriously, though – if you find yourself stuck, saying your lines aloud may help get you going again.

There’s something about hearing the sounds of the words that is totally different from the way they sound inside your head.  When we’re co-writing, of course we have to say and sing the words often so that our writing partners can hear what we’re up to.  That way we stay on the same page with our writing.

We throw out ideas, and they toss out their feedback – they like it, they don’t like it, they get an idea based on something we said, etc.

Try that same technique for your solo writing adventures.

It may feel silly at first, but just lock yourself into your writing space – your office, bedroom, bathroom or wherever (don’t laugh about the bathroom writing – that’s where Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac fame claims to do some of her best writing) and start talking yourself through your lyric.  Speak or sing your lines out loud just as if you were talking to your co-writer.

You’ll feel silly at first.  Strange, even.  But, hey, we know it won’t be the first (or the last) time.  You are a songwriter, after all.

Give it a try and let us know how it goes by leaving a comment in the space below.  Members, if you comment while you're logged in, you won't have to wait for your comment to be approved.