Writing Songs You Don't Want to Write

LEARNING TO LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM

Songwriting should be fun, but we find it is often more chore than enjoyment, especially when we aren’t in the mood or are forced to write in a style we don’t enjoy because that is the assignment in front of us at the moment. The real trick here is to somehow turn this minus into a plus and make this an enjoyable exercise, and it will go by that much quicker. By breaking a noxious job into smaller, more palatable doses, adding a bit of fun to make it more palatable, doing your best and keeping your nose to the grindstone, the time will just fly by, and you’ll be done before you know it. Best of all, you will now have gained some very important experience in unfamiliar territory—training that can only help your writing in the long run.

WRITING ENVIRONMENT

Just like in the Dr. Seuss story—perhaps you would like writing this obnoxious piece a little better if you start out in comfy surroundings. If possible, use your favorite instrument to start, a setting that has inspired you in the past, a few special pictures or objects to make you feel relaxed. I often take a cruise around a favorite part of town, come home, take a bath, sit down with a favorite stuffed animal for company on a favorite sofa with a favorite pen and notebook in hand, and then get out the closest recording I have to what needs to be done just to tell myself—see, it’s not that far off from what you like. Once I find at least some common ground to start from, that first leap is a lot easier for me. I listen to that work, and then listen to works that are steps closer to what the finished product should sound like. It’s then just another short step to picking up that favorite instrument and trying to jam along with those recordings. The creative juices are already flowing by this time, and I deliberately try to come up with harmony solos and other parts that aren’t written on the recording—improvising in that same vein. Funny, it already seems more enjoyable.

You can even dress for the occasion. Wear comfortable clothes or dress for the occasion—maybe wearing a cowboy hat will make it easier to write that Country tune. My husband and I, as a joke, wrote a rap tune and won two awards for it—Ed ran around with an alarm clock on a ribbon around his neck making gestures while I cycled through various drum loops I’d written to get us into the mood. If nothing else, it can make you laugh, and laughing while you do this will make it happen just that much faster, and make the job easily bearable.

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