In addition to your main lyrical/musical hook, you should attempt to create and include secondary hooks to generate and augment your listeners’ interest.  Think about inserting short guitar, bass or piano riffs between your song’s lines, or add a chord change when there’s a pause in the lead vocals, or maybe a catchy ad-lib.

Doing this will potentially have the effect of making your song more dynamic. It will also almost certainly make the composition more memorable in the minds of your listeners.

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Although it may seem like extra work, put some time into expanding your vocabulary. Some phrases might be laden with meaning, but some words likely will better fit the image you want to evoke.

In doing so, you’ll be expanding your poetic and literary range — both of which being key talents for your craft. This way, you’ll use better vocabulary to improve your songwriting.

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Essentially speaking, there are two types of songwriters — the ones who write only when inspired and those who create their songs on  a structured schedule. However, if you just wait for lightning to strike, you’re missing out on a lot of meaningful opportunities.

As they say, genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. You might ask: Is a great songwriter made or born? The answer, simply enough, is both. If you aren’t taking your god-given talents and honing them to their full potential, then you’re missing a serious opportunity for greatness.

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Don’t get too tied to your original idea within your writing process. By being too rigid about your concept, you might be missing out on an unexpected epiphany.

Instead, think of that idea as a blueprint to guide you to where the song needs to go. By doing this, you’ll be giving your song flexibility to speak to you about what it needs to become complete.

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Avoid being too literal in your songwriting. As the old adage about writing goes, “show, don’t tell.” Never miss an opportunity to use strong imagery and metaphors.

Just because songs aren’t usually a visual medium, this saying is still relevant. The secret to “show don’t tell” writing is to focus more on how you’re trying to say something rather than simply saying it.

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This may sound like common sense, but it’s a good idea to write songs that fit your singer’s vocal range. After all, you don’t want them to blow out their vocal cords trying to reach way further than they should.

If you’re struggling with this concept, consider how choosing a song that suits your vocal range will put the singer into a position to win.

Don’t paint yourself into a corner with your songs. You don’t need to anticipate every turn your composition will take, but avoid taking it to a dead end if you find your song headed in the wrong direction. This has a habit of killing your momentum.

You could always try using try the method of mapping your songs out. While some musicians might find that this kills their creativity, others might find it to be a highly helpful technique.

Focus particularly on the opening lines of your song. They are, by far, your best chance for pulling your listener into the song and creating an immediate engagement with them.

A powerful opening line will set the story for your listener, and it will establish the who, what, and were of your song. It will possibly also provide insight into the why of the song as well. But it all begins with opening lines that get your listeners started on their journey.

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Learning to unlearn what you know about writing songs can be crucial to doing something unique. Don’t allow tired paradigms to constrain your creativity or to dilute your voice.

This isn’t to undermine the importance of music theory and ear training to professional musicians. However, these things should be considered guidelines and not shackles for what you do musically.

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