When you're writing lyrics to songs, keep focused.Song lyrics are not poetryWhen you´re writing lyrics to songs, remember song lyrics are not poetry. This is one of the most common mistakes I see with new lyric writers. They write song lyrics like it´s supposed to be read and not sung. Remember, many song lyrics can look silly or poor when their read on the paper, but when their together with music, they create magic. Keep it to one main themeWhen you´re writing lyrics to songs you usually got 3-5 minutes to express yourself. This is not a long time, so don´t make it a novel with many plots or stories. Your lyric should be focused and build around one idea. Many beginning songwriters tend to write about to many things at the same time. A rule of the thumb is; you should be able to tell in one sentence what your lyric is about. It could be: "Missing my girlfriend", "Loves my daughter", "Remembering how ting used to be" etc.
Maintaining the focus in the song is very important when you´re writing lyrics. Start asking questions.If you´re having trouble to continue when you´ve decided for the title and what´s the theme of the song, you´re not alone. Many students ask me; "Tor, how am I supposed to write lyrics to songs about just one theme?" If their having trouble with this I give them an exercise I find useful.Here´s a light version of the exercise: Ask questions about the theme. Let´s say you have decided to write a song about a homeless man. You have decided the title to be "The Lonely Man". Start asking questions around the title "What does he look like?" "What´s he doing?", "Where´s the action taking place?" "Is he speaking? If so, what´s he saying?", "What clothes is he wearing?", "When is the action taking place, day/night?","How does he make you feel?" "Does he make you/the listener see thing in another perspective?" etc. When you have answered these (and more) questions, write down the keywords. Then brainstorm around these and make a list of images, phrases and words from the keywords. For every sentence you come up with, ask yourself. "Does this sentence explain something about the main theme?" If yes, keep it, if no, throw it away. Now you have many words and sentences that says something about the main theme and the title. At this point, maybe you want to change the title. Maybe the song has taken a new direction? If so, ask the question again, "does this sentences explain something about the main theme?". (Maybe the new title you decided was "Streets of London":)) Make it a habit to ask yourself if each sentence somehow is pointing to the theme of the song. Good Luck writing those hit song lyrics:)
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