Picking a subject

[squids]

Jun 30, 2008, 8:34pm, mojobone wrote:Off topic, but Sheila Davis' "The Craft Of Lyric Writing" is great, as well. When I get ideas that for some reason I can't immediately pursue, I jot them down, scribbling a phrase that fits a rhythmic idea or a thumbnail outline of a lyric or fragment; enough to jog my memory when I pick it up later, when I'm in need of inspiration.I write jes like that too, mojo. I thought I was a freak. Glad to know I'm not, yay!

[squids]

Reading is good and not necessarily about music. Anything. I got an idea the other day from reading about compassionate meditation in O magazine while waiting for a doc appointment. It's all around us; really, as writers, we're supposed to describe the world around us and within us so it's there I find my inspiration.

[milfus]

yeah I tend to jot down symbols for songs, it helps me pick up the train of thought, and as the thought changes I kind of modify the symbol, so i can be like, ok, and i added that because of this and so on

[twilsbach]

NPR did this thing on their website a few times, brought artists into a studio gave them five pictures & five words. The artists had to pick one picture and one word or phrase from the five, then write a song around that in two days. They had cameras going, recorded the process then shared the finished piece.I've bent that challenge a bit when I'm struggling and I go to either Flickr or Slate.com, or anywhere that has a gallery of pictures. Pick one and make a story out of it.

[billedstrom]

Pat Pattison has a technique called object writing described in his book "Writing Better Lyrics". You basically pick any object and just write using as many senses as possible for a limited time. Set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes and it's amazing what you can come up with. After that you can see if you get any ideas or phrases that you can start to look up rhymes for.Andrea Stolpe has a similar technique described as destination writing in her book "Popular Lyric Writing". Her idea is to pick a designation like Airport, Shopping Mall or Nashville. Then you write with sensory detail free form. Here book has more of a process to it.Both are great books but you don't need anything to just set a time pick a destination or object and just write whatever you can in 10 minutes. The results can be astounding.

[milfus]

yeah, andrea stople is pretty slick, I have been in a class or two of hers, the only thing is it is so methodic, it can actually over-ride your normal method, but if you get results, *shrug*

[stephen]

Hey as things happen to me on a daily basis I write. Inspiration works well here for me.

[kg]

People watch...eaves drop...instigate

[thecolonel]

Jul 15, 2008, 1:14pm, milfus wrote:yeah, andrea stople is pretty slick, I have been in a class or two of hers, the only thing is it is so methodic, it can actually over-ride your normal method, but if you get results, *shrug*Yeah, I've noticed that she has almost a step-by-step process of writing songs. I guess you have to have that when your livelihood depends on it and your songs belong to a publisher!Pat Pattison's book is great! Here is a great blog filled with object writing by someone: http://dailyobjectwriting.wordpress.com/

[matthoggard]

I believe that everything we need is right inside this big fat overworked underused piece of jelly we call a brain. I bet you have a 100 thoughts a day that would make a great song idea.Its just that your daily grind probably has you filtering out any existential thoughts. silence can breed alot of subconcious thought. Drive without the radio on. Sit on the pot and stare at the wall instead of reading that magazine. Your brain is a well spring. Let it flow!