Conversation For Writers

Conversation For Writers

This year I did something I don’t know if I should be proud of or ashamed of! I guess I’m glad I did it- it was practice….what do you think of this?

I was challenged to write a “timeless” song. Every day for about 3 weeks I wrote and sent a song to a producer (who is extremely legit) to see if I’d met this challenge. Every day he would write back and say “it’s good but not timeless.”

I got desperate! So I had an idea. Ok he wants a timeless song, I will take a timeless phrase and turn it into a song. Think about it. Most hit’s are timeless phrases.

“Don’t Think Twice”

“What’s Going on”

“Let It Be”

“I Want To Hold Your Hand”

“God Only Knows”

etc…

So I googled phrases and viola! picked some that stood out to me and wrote songs around them. They turned out well, I’m not gonna lie. But my heart wasn’t in them. I guess I’ve done it before naturally in writing songs like with the phrases “I See God In You” and “Look Up”. But this time it just wasn’t from my heart. Maybe because these phrases didn’t lend themselves to what I’m feeling in my life at this time even though they may have turned into great songs.

What do you writer’s think about this approach? Some would say this is a great way to get creative juices flowing. It’s not selling out. It’s being a professional, working at a craft not just waiting for inspiration to deliver a song out of the blue. It could be seen as using all the tools available. People do it all the time with the Bible- you find a phrase and elaborate on it. Thoughts???