Write a Song Today: The Songwriter's Way of Thinking
by Calvin Rele

Is there ever a 'right time' to write a song? So many songwriters have asked me, "can you write whenever you want?" -- well, the answer is a resounding YES. You can indeed.

But let's be real, what if your mum was in hospital or you just went though a divorce.. then what? What if you simply weren't in the mood? Well, here's the secret. First of all, let's switch the word 'writing' with the word 'creating'. In theory we are 'writing a song', but in practice we're actually creating something.

Just think about that for a second. We're 'CREATING' something here. So if we are creating something, we need to fuel that creativity with something. We fuel that creativity with INSPIRATION.

Before we even THINK about what to write about, what structure the song should be, what melody to use, etc, we need inspiration. I can hear you already "what if I don't feel inspired?", well this is exactly why you need to 'switch' your mind. I can't even begin to tell you how important this is.

Let me explain -- stay with me here Here's a typical a scenario. You wake up early in the morning to go work, you miss your train and when you get there your boss gives you a hard time for being late. Because you're late, you're made to work through your lunch hour. When you do, you eat some crummy old sandwich which makes your stomach upset. Despite the fact that you're now not feeling well, you carry on working -- dying for the day to end. Work is finally over. You get home, and cook yourself some food. It's the best meal you've had all day. You're feeling a little better knowing you can finally relax and watch some TV over a nice beverage. But guess what, you're too tired to write a song. You've had such a mad day, you just can't be bothered. You don't know what to write about. You just don't feel inspired.

Now here's where you 'switch' your mind. Everything that has happened in your day are a series of events all leading up to writing a song. How many events can YOU draw inspiration from? The answer is ALL of them. You can write about your whole 'bad day' but the key here is to pick one or two events and elaborate on them. For example, we can do something with 'being late for the train' and 'late for work'. You could structure it in a way were your verse would be about getting up late, how your breakfast was burnt, when you left it was pouring with rain and you left your umbrella, the trains were running late, and you were late for work again.

In fact, that could actually be your hook (chorus) -- 'I'm Late Again'. The song can be structured in a way were you are simply stating how you are always late! (It doesn't matter whether that's the truth or not! It just has to flow well, that's all). Songwriters who write constantly understand how to harness the power of inspiration.

The above example was quite a negative day, but if was the opposite, then you would write about just that, (ever heard of 'Lovely Day' by Bill Withers?).

Structure your song so you are keeping your listener interested in where your song is taking them next. More on structure in another article ...

Sincerely, Calvin Rele

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