I’ve been thinking more about my songwriting process lately, partly because I used to depend heavily on inspiration hitting at the right time (it doesn’t always), and partly because a few friends have asked me about it. I sent versions of this to them and thought I might as well share it here as well.

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. This doesn’t make my writing less inspired, meaningful, or emotional (I avoided any kind of schedule for so long based on this fear), but it does help trick/train my mind into being ready to go. 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!