Writing Lyrics

Young people often ask me to teach them to write lyrics.

Though it can be taught, a class is not necessary.  -- A good lyricist learns by studying the craft itself.

Writing Exercise for this week:

Write down the lyrics to a song that really moves you.  Study how the words fall together.  Pay close attention to how the writer shares his or her ideas in rhyme form.  Learn the song's pattern.

Then re-write the song in your own words, using the same pattern as the original songwriter and the same theme.  If the writer was writing about love, your song should be about love.  If the writer  had a rhyme at the end of every line, your song should have a rhyme at the end of every line.  Get your new song as close to the original, without being a copy, as you can.  You are not copying the writer's words.  You are copying the writer's structure.  You are learning how to construct a song by looking at how someone else did it.

Name your song "Exercise #1".  Place it in a folder or envelope and put it away.  

Till next week -- write on!