my songwriting process

Before I start writing I like to read and watch movies, kinda fill my mind with words and ideas and themes. Sometimes a scene from a book or movie will move me and I’ll try to work that into a song. (I write about real things too but either way it seems to help to have a bunch of other art swirling around up there.)

I used to wait for inspiration to strike but I’ve found I’m most productive when I pick a certain day of the week and time to write and give myself at least a couple uninterrupted hours to focus. I keep my writing area pretty clear, mostly because I’m easily distracted. Just paper, a pen, my guitar, and coffee or water. I keep my phone handy to record what I’m working on but I keep it on silent and upside-down.

I’ll usually just play around on guitar until I figure out something I like; nothing complex, usually a 2 or 3 chord pattern. Then I start trying out lyrics, whatever comes to me, even if it’s silly or weird. Sometimes a line or a whole verse will come pretty quickly, sometimes it takes awhile, but either way I keep playing the pattern and singing the words I do have until more come. There are almost always words or lines I don’t love but I’ll write them out anyway so I don’t interrupt the process, then go back and edit stuff.

I don’t really follow any format or structure; I don’t worry too much if words don’t rhyme, sometimes my songs don’t have a chorus or anything, just a few verses. Some of my songs are only a few lines long because that’s all they needed.

Even if I’m not liking what I’m writing I try to keep working on it, just for the sake of the process. In some cases I’ll write a not-great song then something better, so maybe it’s like cleaning out my mind.

I always do a quick phone recording when I have a couple lines or a verse down, then again when the song is done (or done for the day/writing session) so if something happens and I get interrupted it doesn’t disappear forever.

I’m sure there’s other stuff I do that I’m not thinking about or maybe not conscious of. I’ll probably update this at some point.

Shout-out to Daisy and Scout for asking me about this and inspiring me to finally write it down and think about it more clearly!