So. I have been away from writing songs for myself for a bit now. I have been mostly writing songs for other people to sing. I’ve also been working on a book. But I am now writing songs for myself again.

It’s been a very long time since I compulsively wrote songs. There was a time when that was my main preoccupation, the thing I would do with every idle minute — or at least that’s my memory of it. Things changed when I was no longer just writing songs to play for myself and my friends. Suddenly I was writing songs for people to hear in concert, to hear on recordings. My relationship with songwriting changed and so did my practice. I started writing in phases, I started writing when new material was needed. Which is not to say that one practice is better than the other — I would’ve burned myself down to a stub if I’d kept up my old songwriting ways.

But here I am, writing songs for myself and my band again, and I’m realizing that there are some things that I’ve learned over the years, in regards to writing songs, and it might be a good thing to put them down — as much for myself as for you.

So these are just tips. Strategies. Exercises. And they may not work for you, but maybe they’ll lead you in a positive direction.