how to write a song

1. Fall in love

2. Break your heart

3. Tell the story

Fall in Love

• Be vulnerable to the experience of falling in love, and willing to be wrong about it later. Seek adventure in the new idea. Say "yes, and..." to everything. Fuel the fire.

• Stare. Linger. Long. Obsess over your favorites nuances. Every syllable. Every vowel. Every note. Play with repetitions.

• Find common ground. Gardening. Not architecture. Don't criticize. Keep the best. Ignore the rest. 

Break your heart

• Question everything. Nothing is good enough until it pushes back against you. Force every nuance to justify its existence. Make them all play nice together.

• Kill your babies. Remove your favorite parts and see if you still have a song. Make it obvious, and see if it’s still compelling.

• Bend. Don't break. Be flexible with your decisions. Be stubborn about removing what bothers you. Don’t be suckered by your own ‘artistry’. Be a craftsman. Make improvements.

Tell the story

• Keep it simple. There is a beginning, a middle, and an end.

• Know the ending from the start. Hide a picture of the final destination in the first few words.

• Edit relentlessly. Best word wins. Every step gets you closer. Don’t waste them.