Poetry And Songwriting – Tips For Writing Lyrics

Have You Been Told You Write Poetry Not Lyrics
Poetry and songwriting are very similar, they rhyme and have rhythm. There are tips and guidelines to help you decide when you are writing poetry not lyrics.
If you naturally write poetry and want to write lyrics don’t worry just practice writing lyrics and use the tips below.
Tips to Help You Write Good Lyrics.
In the beginning you can ask yourself a few of these questions to get a feel for what is lyrics versus poetry.
Poetry has signals that you can see which indicate a poem instead of a lyric.
It took me a while to see the difference between the two until I learned about these tips that I now use as a check list when writing.
If you have more than 2 or 3 of these tell signs going on in your “lyric” then you need to sit back and take a better look at what you are writing.
Lyric Writing Tips.
1. Your structure isn’t an obvious song structure.
2. You can’t tell what the title of the piece is.
3. You don’t see an obvious repeat refrain, hook or chorus.
4. The lyric isn’t conversational; the lyric doesn’t feel like you are sitting down with a friend talking about something.
5. Use of antiquated or outdated language.
6. The story keeps saying the same thing verse after verse. The piece doesn’t move on to the next step. You just repeat over and over.
7. You have created a personal window into your life and it becomes uncomfortable to keep reading.
8. If you see you are shifting your words to make them rhyme, look over your lyric and see if any of the above clues are present.
9. Use this list every time you write, the more you use it the better you will become at identifying a piece of poetry.
Conclusion
Poetry is poetry and lyrics are lyrics. After awhile you will be able to tell the difference. Be patient and keep writing. When you see you are writing poetry finish and put it away for a later time to reread.
Keep a poetry folder around and put all your pieces in it. You never know what opportunity may come up later in your career. It would be great to have a book of poetry already penned and just waiting to be published. Quite a few artists and songwriters publish both.
You just never know who will knock on your door. You will be ready all because of using tips for writing lyrics.