Allow Your Songwriting Ideas
Silence To Grow

Are your songwriting ideas getting away from you?

Do you ever find you have a great idea for a song, but as you begin writing you immediately start picking holes in it? You may find yourself saying things like "Nobody's going to like this", or "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all." Don't forget the ever-popular "Who am I kidding? This is crap!"

If you believed you had a good idea you probably did. You simply made the mistake of allowing your inner-critic to see your work too soon.

Now, he's not a bad guy. In fact, if you want to write good songs, or even (dare I say it) great songs, your inner-critic plays an extremely important role. But if you give him too much power too soon, he will abuse it.

So silence him!

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As a general rule of thumb, I won't even allow him in the same room until I've finished my first draft. It isn't hard to do.

When writing a song, just write down what you want to say. Don't stress over finding the perfect way to say it, or the synonym with just the right slant. You can do that later.

That's when you want help from the picky one!

The important thing is to get it written down so you have something to work with. Remind yourself that nobody will see it but you. Tell yourself you will even burn the first draft! (I've done it.)

Promise yourself you won't critique your song until there is enough of a song to be critiqued!

Just write.

Get your initial idea down on paper before you have a chance to shoot it down. If you think you have a good idea, you probably do.

Go with your gut.

Songwriting ideas are like tiny living things. They need nurturing in order to grow:) And they can be killed off very quickly. So do them a favour. Make sure your critic knows his place.

Each month you'll receive tips and ideas on such topics as...

• Writing better lyrics
• Composing beautiful melodies
• Cool recording techniques
• Music publishing strategies

Each issue will be packed with practical information designed to help you write better songs, and take them to the next level.

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