Songwriting For Dummies

Foreword

People ask me all the time, “How did you become a successful writer?” If I were to answer that in the most simple way possible, I’d have to say that it comes down to three things — WORK, honesty and feeling.

I put the word WORK in capital letters to show you just how important this part of the equation is. Every successful songwriter knows that sometimes you write hundreds of songs before you stumble upon anything great, and because of that, WORK in some cases is more important than talent. I wrote for seven years before I made a dollar. And I learned that every bad song you write gets you closer to a good one. As my famous songwriter friend Marti Fredrickson says, “It took me 47 years to write that song.” (By the way, he’s 47; and he co-wrote “Jaded” for Aerosmith, “Sorry” for Buck Cherry, and “Love Remains the Same” for Gavin Rossdale.)

WORK can mean many different things — from the actual creation of the song, to finding the right person to produce or sing it, to networking so that someone in a position to promote it can actually hear it. You may have the best song in your pocket, but if you don’t hit the ground running, it will always just be that — a song in your pocket.

If you want to be a professional songwriter, you should write every day and spend every waking moment finding others who inspire you and are dedicated to a life of music. Every good songwriter I know lives, eats, and breathes music. When they are not engaged in the important task of experiencing ...