You Should Write Music First Thing In the Morning.
The following is adapted from The Daily Song Journal by Mark Cawley.
My wife, Kathy, and I have always been avid morning readers. This is not the time to crack open a novel but perfect for bite-size bits of inspiration, meditations, devotionals, and thought journals meant to get your day started off strong. I have never seen one for songwriters. This became the purpose behind The Daily Song Journal: to give you, the songwriter, bits of information and inspiration to start your creative day. There is no theme to how these are put together. They are just meant to make you focus on one area of your songwriting — from the nuts and bolts to the business side, from the relational to the recreational.
The following are some creative journal prompts to inspire you to write a new song every day:
Today is always a great day filled with hope.
It’s a new day, a new year, and a time to commit or recommit to your songwriting path. Let’s focus right there on the word “hope.” Something that should be in your songwriter’s toolbox is the idea of giving the listener hope in your songs. Not every song you’ll write is going to have a happy ending, but even in the toughest topic, it’s a great technique to let the listener in on a silver lining. Maybe it’s just leaving your lyric open-ended and allowing the listener to imagine the ending. However you choose to do it, leaving a little hope in your lyric is a gift to the person hearing your song.
“Is there enough of me in my song?”
Take one of your current songs and study it with an eye to finding what’s familiar versus what’s uniquely your own. Maybe the biggest key to finding your voice as a songwriter is the ability to bring the things that molded you into the art form that you’re working in. It’s not enough to write a song that you feel is just as good as a current hit, because that already exists. What can you bring to your song today that will get you and your song noticed?
The Inner Critic
Is there someone working on your song along-side you? Do they shut you down before you can get going? Let’s recognize and introduce the inner critic, ladies and gentlemen. This guy is not your friend. He can be if he just
shows up to survey your song when it’s close to finished, but not any other time. Kick him out. How many times have you talked yourself right out of the creative spurt by listening to that little voice in your head that says, “Really, you think this idea is great? Someone is going to love it? A major artist will totally get this? Are your nuts?” Practice turning that voice off today and every day.
Being Intentional
The importance of being intentional is the point for today. Everything you do can be possible material for a song. The trick can be going into everything you do with the intention of being open. Open to hearing, seeing, feeling, tasting something that might just inspire you. The intentional part of this might be as simple as taking something to write or record with everywhere you go.
Lead with your Best
Always. I’ve coached songwriters who, when asked to send me their best songs, will immediately begin to backtrack when we discuss them. “Well, I wrote that one for a specific pitch; it’s not really my thing.” Or “I co-wrote this one and thought it’s probably commercial, but in truth, I hate it.” This is just flat-out wrong. Anything you send out to anyone in the business needs to be your best. You should be able to stand behind it. When I hear those type of comments, it’s hard to take what I’m about to hear seriously. You have to believe in order to get someone on board.
From the inside out
A terrific Nashville saying is that “you write your lyric from the inside of the truck, out.” What does that mean? It’s referring to the technique of a lyric starting with the smallest of detail and leading to a bigger idea. You show the small stuff to let the listener see the big idea.
If you’re interested in reading more, you can find my book The Daily Song Journal on Amazon.
Mark Cawley is a hit songwriter, bestselling author, in-demand speaker, songwriting coach, and popular blogger. His songs have appeared on more than sixteen million records, including those of legendary artists from Tina Turner and Joe Cocker to Diana Ross and many more. Through his service iDoCoach.com, he has coached thousands of songwriters worldwide. Mark is a judge for the UK Songwriting Contest, Belmont University’s Commercial Music program, and West Coast Songwriter events. He’s a contributing author to USA Songwriting, INtune Magazine, and Songwriter Magazine. He is also a sponsor for the Australian Songwriting Association and a mentor for The Songwriting Academy UK. Mark resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
