13 Steps on How to Write a Song.

I am in a Gospel Musical band and I sing, write, and perform a lot of songs. Anytime I show people or some of my friends and family members the lists of my songs written by me they are amazed and the big question that come is: “How come you are able to write songs of this magnitude?” My answer to them is simple “Talent is awesome, if you’re talented, you can do anything with it. But only if you do the right thing at the right time.” Don’t get it twisted, before you can write a song 2 things are involved; having a talent in music and having a passion for it! So before you try out these tips, note: YOU MUST BE TALENTED IN MUSIC AND THE PASSION FOR IT MUST ALSO BE THERE!  Here are the steps:

      

     1.  Get Inspired: Without inspiration things can’t be done easily, one must get inspired first, before he/she thinks of the next step of action. In music inspiration is the key, when you watch a celebrity’s interview on television and listen on radio, you hear questions like “What was your inspiration in writing this song?” and you will hear him or her  lining it out one after the other. Have something to stir you up in writing that song of yours. As a song writer, I have three strong sources of inspirations when writing songs. So get yours too because it is one of the keys for a good song writer.

     2. Be Prepared: The level of your preparedness will determine how far you will go in writing that particular song of yours. You need to get prepared mentally, spiritually, physically in terms of your sound recorder, pen and paper, a piano or guitar if you have one. Writing a song require good thinking, a clear and better understanding of what you are writing. How prepared are you?

   3. Find Yourself A Suitable Environment: The environment you fix yourself when writing really matters, it’s either,  it affect you positively if it suit you or negatively if it does not suit you. I suggest getting yourself a CALM room or place even if it means you are the only one there.

     4. Be Focus: Let the only thing that runs through your mind be the song that you are about to write. Avoid engaging your mind with all your problems at that particular time; just keep them away for now. Maybe you can return to them later, but for some people engaging their mind with the problems of this life is a source of inspiration so if you are that type there’s no problem at all if it is inspiring you. But what I am emphasizing is that YOU SHOULD BE FOCUS.

   5. Avoid Distraction: It is very easy to be distracted when you are doing something important than to focus. My reasons in saying this is that in the world today there so many things to distract us. Things like the social media networks e.g Facebook, Twiter, Emails etc, phones calls, gadgets, games, party etc… These are things to distract you so be careful. When you get to a suitable place of your choice, make sure to let go of all these distracters, I usually switch off all my phones and computers and it does help a lot. MAKE THE ENVIRONMENT YOU ARE, PRETTY EMPTY OF THESE DISTRACTIONS! It helps.

    6. Be yourself (unique): Imitation Makes you Number two! You will not like people especially music critics to label your song as the imitation of one famous artists or the other, no! Not at all! You will like it to be very unique as you are. Take these tips very seriously: Be yourself, Calm down and take it easy, and after that take a deep breath before starting. You will see that when once you have followed these tips things become much easier for you. DON’T MOUNT ANY PRESSURE ON YOURSELF, JUST BE YOURSELF!

      7.  Be Serious and Committed to what you are doing because that what music is all       about SERIOUSNESS AND COMMITMENT!

       8.  Be at your best:  Remember you have to be at your best to get the BEST!

      9.  Be A Good Listener Of Yourself:  A good song writer listens to him or herself first and then the environment while writing,  (How to listen to yourself while composing) that’s is why you really need a calm environment to be able to do this.

     10.  Listen To Other Music: You must be a good listener and lover of good music; play songs written by other song writers of your choice, pay a close attention to the way they sing and write songs, their lyrics, rhythm, sound etc… BUT do not imitate them, use their skills and talent to motivate and inspire yourself in writing your song.

      11.  Be Creative: Know what to do, what to write, what kind of sound you want, how to put them in place to write a great song etc…

      12.   Select Your Genre:  What kind of genre are you using for that song? Is it soul, blues, rock, hip pop, reggae, metal, jazz,? Etc… Note that you must be very specific on this issue, because it will help you to know where to start.

     13.   Get Started:  After you’ve carefully completed these steps, Take a deep breathe again and start writing your song. I tell you it an awesome experience writing a song that many people around the world will sing and dance to.

   
Enoch Etim Okon (D Blissmen)