What do you do if your songwriting and lyricism skills need a boost?

I always try to have a personal pep talk that says, ‘Could anyone write this? Are there 500 writing sessions in Nashville, and are half of them chasing the same thing? Am I inspired? Would I sign myself if my job depended on it and I was at a publishing company?’”

Sketch Ideas, journal lyrically almost at anytime possible! Re-visit these ideas, assess if a flow fills in and keep practising! Depending on the style of music, the rhythm and delivery can be practiced and developed alongside writing. Stick to a pen and paper so there's no typos or un-necessary distractions!

Discovering new musical genres exposes you to unusual rhythms, chord progressions, and lyrical structures, all of which can inspire originality in your writing. Trying out new music may be really beneficial; you might come up with new songs by listening to classical works. Hip-hop may also introduce you to innovative rhythmic rhythms. The key is to remain open and enable these diverse musical forays to inform and enhance your composing process.

Expand your horizons by exploring different musical genres. Study lyrics of successful songs for insights into effective storytelling and wordplay. Collaborate with other musicians to gain new perspectives and techniques. Write regularly to improve consistency and experiment with ideas. Seek constructive feedback from peers or mentors. Embrace learning through formal education and resources in songwriting and lyricism.

Let yourself soak in creativity and beauty from every source possible. Examples - take some extra time to gaze at the sunrise while you savor your morning coffee; visit a museum and really stop to notice the pieces that call to you; cook an over the top dish just because (warning: this may inspire you to play different music while you cook). I love reading, so I especially love to listen to musicians read their own books on Audible. I find that when I surround myself with creativity, even if it seems unrelated to my own disciplines, it inspires me to create. Exposure to the creations of others alchemizes with me and inspires me to create something that I otherwise would not have thought of.

Exploring diverse genres exposes you to new chord progressions, rhythms, and lyrical structures, sparking creativity in your own work.

Try and write with people that are your personality opposite! This always brings out something great! Write often! Not every song is amazing! Have fun!

Analyzing lyrics offers insights into effective storytelling, wordplay, and emotional conveyance, helping improve one's own songwriting techniques.

Intuition, Feel for what you're planning on writing and want to convey in a song. To collaborate with other musicians. Write ideas on paper, write passionately and work with skilled producers to bring out any given song, the track would usually be put into an album, so it should take into account potential listeners' journey and emotions. The first single release is a taster for generating interest for any further releases, so offering catchy hooks early on in the song often helps. In any creative field, the superpower is collaboration and the exchange of contributions of different people and elements only add to a song - what are your influences? Experimentation.

Collaboration introduces new ideas, perspectives, and techniques that may not be discovered individually, contributing to overall development as a songwriter.

Consistent writing allows for experimentation with different lyrical concepts and musical structures, ultimately building confidence and finding one's unique voice as a songwriter.

Constructive feedback provides new perspectives and highlights areas for improvement, encouraging further refinement of songwriting skills.

One exercise I came across could help with lyrics : - Create a metaphor by combining 1 quality about someone with a specific location. E.g (Your eyes are like white snow). Don't worry about how this metaphor sounds! - Set a timer for 10 minutes and free write, expanding on this metaphor using descriptive, sensory language - Read back what you wrote and pick out any interesting imagery or phrases. - Use this material to help write your lyrics! Experiment with not stating the original metaphor

Something I find helpful is the exercise of doing 'blackout poetry'. It is a good integration of using the existing creative work of others in a fair manner, to give inspiration to your own creative work. Simply make a copy of any page from an old book/novel, blackout (or circle) words on the page to form a poem. It's fun and really helps me kickstart the lyrical process when I'm stuck!

I would suggest to write about life-changing experiences. Put your heart out there and watch the connection that follows. Terry Lewis, part of the iconic production team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis says ‘what comes from the heart, reaches the heart.’

I have found the exercise of using prompts of single lines of text from other sources, and building a new story around those can really free you up. It takes us out of our own heads, experiences, and taps into the observational skills we sometimes forget about using.

Anything that you write down might become a song's lyrics. Writing is a global art form that may come from anybody, anywhere. It may be a note you wrote to someone special, a funny joke you made during lighthearted conversation, or even those nagging, unwanted thoughts. One of the times I saw "Richie Rich," a character says, "This home probably has its own zip code." That one dialogue captured such a vivid picture that it inspired me to write a song around it.