what are some ways that i can improve my lyrics????

Read a couple books on the topic.

Take a poetry class. While lyrics aren't poetry (though they can be poetic) a lot of the same concepts apply.

Work at improving your vocabulary. The ability to find the right word to convey the concept you want often is dependent upon knowing the word to begin with.

Take a creative writting course. Learn how to tell a good story well!

Engage in some other "left-brain" activities to stir those creative juices. Painting, sculpture, whatever.

Find some people you think of as creative and original, and cultivate friendships with them.

Practicing writing a lot of lyrics. Don't just write it and put it away, keep revising it and molding them till they are as good as you can get them. Then make them better.

Be very critical of your own work, and seek out the advice of other lyricists you respect to help you see how to improve your own work.

Practicing writing a lot of lyrics

This is key, at least in my opinion. Write whatever comes into your head, even if it makes no real sense. Get it all out, after writing 20 lines you might find 2 or 3 that could be used.

And don't throw any of the lyrics away.
Keep everything you write!

hey russlia, though i'm just learning myseld i try a couple of approaches, first and probably easiest to get a finished song out of (if you can play well, which i can't), is to come up with a good riff you like and just start throwing down lyrics to it, have a general topic but it's what ever sounds good, nice to have some sort of recording device, take out the lyrics you like and build a song around them. another way is to pick a topic, which this forum is nice for and write a story or poem about it, it's good to think of a verse as a paragraph, focus on one aspect of the topic, ie. if the topic is the sun, verse one might be about the sunrise, verse two about the heat of noon, and verse three about the sunset. the chorus is hopefully the hook, something that you can repeat that sounds good and sums up the song. for writing lines i usually think about what i want to say then try to write that meaning in the most ear pleasing way, rhymes are good for this, abab, abcb, aabb, abcbdefb, what ever you want to use, in terms of words, try singing them out, some words sing good some not so good, hope this helps

martin

Hi Russlia

Look at the resources available on this site under the Songwriting link on the home page.

Nick's and AJ's articles are great places to start but they are starting places - practice, practice, practice is the only sure way to get better.

The only other tip is to look at what you wrote 6 months ago and compare it to now and see if you can't make it better. Also sometimes the simple approach provides the most effective results.

But keep plugging away - it does geteasier - marginally :wink:

Bob :wink:

Hi Russlia

I'm surprised nobody suggested this already.

Try a Sunday Songwriting Group assignment and post it.

The other songwriters here are all very talented and
willing to share their views. If you don't work well within
the confines of an assignment then try the Guitar Noise
Songwriting Club.

Most of all WRITE WRITE WRITE

John

what are some ways
i can improve
my song writing
lyric wise

i am thinging all the day
but i can't find any idea
so one day
i have an idea about that some how
i don't know

so this is a song
yes, this is a song
a simple song

what are some ways
i can improve
my song writing
lyric wise

what are some ways
i can improve
my song writing
lyric wise

In addition to these great suggestions, I'd like to add one that people often overlook - reading, listening and examining other people's lyrics.

Working with people in the Sunday Songwriters' Group, one of the most helpful things you can do for your own writing is to critique other members' offerings. You find yourself thinking about what worked in their lyrics, what didn't, what meters sounded good when you read them aloud, which seemed good on paper but difficult to speak (or sing) aloud.

Writing critiques can be hard. It's easy to say "I like this" or "I don't like this" but taking the time to think out the whys and then to put that into words can help you get a better grasp at conveying your message. This is obviously a good skill for a songwriter to have! :wink: It's also great for your general communication abilities.

In addition, most of the folks here (when asked) are more than willing to talk about the thought process that goes into choosing words and phrases. While this sometimes is very specific to a particular assignment or a song, getting to read how someone else tackles an idea always helps you come up with new ones yourself down the road.

So if you decide to take up an SSG assignment at some point, remember that writing your own lyric is only half (and sometimes even less) of the potential to learn things. Go all the way and give your critiques to other who've written.

Looking forward to hopefully reading some of your material here one day soon.

Peace

I can attest to the idea that participating in this songwriting group is a great way to improve your song writing. I'd started writing songs shortly before I joined sometime last year. And having to post a song every week kept me writing on a regular basis, which in itself helped me improve. But then having to follow specific assignments challenged me even more. Also as someone said, read other people's work and listen to their critiques with an open mind. Learning how to take constructive criticism made me think outside the box. Learning how to give constructive criticism was perhaps even more helpful.

Also, even if you are trying to write about something specific, don't get so caught up in the topic that you hinder your natural thought process. Maybe think about the topic and then go for a run or take a shower, or just do something relaxing and let the words come to you. As far as rhyming goes, some people don't bother too much with it. I feel rhyming is an important part of song lyrics. I just think it makes the song flow better and more pleasing to the ear. But a rhyme should never sound forced. Better to leave it out than force it. First figure out what you want to say and write it without rhyming (unless the rhyme comes naturally). Then think about different ways to say the same thing in a way that will rhyme without compromising the lyric or idea.

After it's written, read your song out loud several times. See if it flows easily. Think if it conveys what you want to say clearly. Even if you don't have music for it yet, try to sing it to some kind of tune to see if the meter works.

Some people post rough drafts and then ask for help. That's fine. That's what we're here for, but then you really have to be ready to accept constructive criticism and suggestions. I personally don't post until I'm happy with the song. Though, even times when I think I'm happy, someone makes a suggestion that makes me look at the song differently. And even if I was happy with it, I usually end up making at least some small change that makes the song better. Keep in mind that you can't please everyone, but you also want others to like and understand your songs. With that in mind, read the song over again and decide what--if any--changes you need to make.

And like John said, try this week's assignment and post a song. Take it from there. Good luck.

Joe

to write from your heart is the only way to really write

A good exercise is to take a song with a tune you like and write out new lyrics to the song about whatever you want. Youll find its very easy to write words to a good melody and it might even be the best thing you've ever written. But afterwards you ball it up and throw it away no matter what. You cant actually use this as a song afterwards because it will almost certainly have the exact vocal melody of the song you copied. Thats not to say you couldnt re express some great original idea you had later, but the goal here is to become a better writer, not to write something better.

I write lyrics first sometimes, but I think its much harder to set music to words than it is to set words to music. What makes songs great is when the melody captures the feel of the lyrics so they feel like they never could have been anything different. Now adays when im writing lyrics im writing the melody in my head at the same time and then I just kinda find it on the guitar later. But if you get a good chord progression, the lyrics will just flow.