An often questionable approach to writing a song.
Although I am by no means an expert on the songwriting process, I do, like many other songwriters, have a specific means to an end as to how I write a song. Here are the personal steps I take to writing a song.
1. Find inspiration.
The first step to writing a good song is to feel inspired enough to write one in the first place. Usually my inspiration is based off any sort of intense emotion that I am experiencing in my life. I don't like to choose a strict topic or person that my song is about, but I like to just see where the song will take me. However, it's important for me to start the song with some sort of emotion or purpose, because that is going to be what guides the song and gives it meaning. So sometimes I'll just lay around and think about things that relate to whatever this emotion is, and see what kind of stuff comes up.
2. Find a random word that I want to base the song around.
I really try to avoid saying things cut-and-dry. After all, nothing is original anymore, but if I can take an emotion and even give it the smallest dose of originality, then I've done something. So I sometimes will just grab my Dictionary of Dream Symbols and throw it open to a random page. For instance let's say my song is about having a super intense crush, then I will throw open my Dream Symbol Encyclopedia and see the word "newspaper", and then I'm like, "huh, I wonder how I can incorporate that into a song." So then I start finding ways to incorporate this symbol into my song, sometimes into the opening line, sometimes into the chorus. So right now if I were to write a song about lovesickness that incorporates newspapers, I would write a line like... "the paper's tossed against my door... can't read a headline without seeing your name no more". Um... maybe not. But maybe.
3. Play a random chord structure on my guitar.
So then I start to play some random chord structures, seeing what works. My go-to for a long period of time was G major, and then A minor, and then E minor, but right now it's more like... F major, A minor, G major, D minor. Sometimes if I'm feeling fancy I'll whip out my electronic keyboard, but when I write songs it's usually late at night and so I don't have the energy to do that, and my acoustic guitar is my go-to.
4. Mumble along for a little bit and make stuff up and see what sounds right.
I don't really like planning out a song too much and will often just straight up go for it and see where it takes me. Like, most of my songs kind of just write themselves off my subconscious thoughts. So I'll kind of just zone out. Sometimes I like to add a bit of nonsense and more "free association" lyrics into there because it adds flavour.
5. Begin with the first verse then move to the chorus.
I usually write my song consecutively, from the first verse to the chorus to the second verse to the bridge, because it just makes sense in my mind. My biggest struggle right now is writing a good chorus that isn't super annoying but is also simultaneously catchy. It's way harder than it looks.
6. Go absolute wild on the bridge.
The bridge is the part of the song where I kind of just like to go off. If the rest of the song is fairly normal, I like to experiment lyrically on the bridge and see what kind of new rhymes and word combinations I can come up with.
7. Finish it up by polishing and making edits.
I will then sing the entire song from the beginning and see how it feels. Usually at this point I've completely forgotten the melody I came up with, and I'll have to make it up all over again. But that's the fun of it. I will see what works and what doesn't, both rhythmically, structurally, and lyrically. Sometimes I really end up hating the song, but once in a while, I have a gem.
Overall this process is questionable, but it's my dedicated process and I can't change it now. I will soon, perhaps, share a song or two, but that's really up to fate. I am still a bit shy to share some of my work, but one day I may open up, who knows?
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