The Rules of Songwriting (There Are No Rules)

When asked about his songwriting process, Bob Dylan once said, ‘Someplace else is always a heartbeat away. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. There’s no rule. That’s what makes it so attractive. There isn’t any rule.’

Some songwriters sit down same time every day and get to work, while others have to face the terror of the blank page, waiting for sweet relief from the feeling they have nothing left to say, nothing left to give, until that magic moment, ‘ah there’s something in that’ and off you go once again.

Neil Young said his only rule is that when inspiration strikes, he stops what he’s doing, whatever it is, and works on the song.

I’ve been writing songs since I was fifteen years old. I’ve had long-ish periods where I hardly write at all, and other times when I’ve been on a creative runaway train.

I’ve sat around waiting for inspiration, and I’ve clocked in like an office job.

I’ve tried timed out fifteen-minute short bursts of creativity, and I’ve lost myself for hours in uninterrupted flow.

Songwriting is a craft, one that we can spend our whole lives working on.

A great song can be our life’s companion, one that we revisit time and time again, or it might be more of a fling than a love affair, passionate and exciting but short-lived.

When you can draw on the whole world’s music for inspiration, how would you even define a song?

It’s words set to music – most of the time. But not always.

Learn the rules but don’t feel bound by them. Bend them, break them, ignore them. Be open, be receptive, be creative.

Do what feels good. And have fun.

Mary x

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