Songwriting: Finding and Saving Ideas

Writing starts with ideas. Whether you are a songwriter, book author, journalist, or poet.
Where do writers draw their ideas from?
Most will react to personal experiences, but if you're writing for hire or to make a living, quite often the topics are dictated to you.
Here's a list that I have drawn from in the past:

family experiences
personal feelings
people I know and their situations
responses to other people's work
weddings, funerals, births, or other public events

Let me just comment on the 'responses to other people's work'.

Bette Midler has a wonderful voice, but she sang a very popular song about God looking at us 'From a Distance'. I just had to disagree. So I wrote a song that reflected my views about that.

"A god in the sky looking down on a stage
would not assume the role of man
but a Lord who sees creation in need
has compassion and understands."

I believe that God came to earth as Jesus and 'assumed the role of man' or took on our humanity. He did not do this from a distance. He breathed our own air.

I hear that Ms. Midler did not write the lyric and who am I to argue with the song's popularity? It sold a lot of copies. But in my own mind, it didn't make sense so I wrote what I thought about it. He lived on earth for a while and now he lives in believer's hearts. He's very close to us.

I've written songs for weddings, and our sons' baby dedications. When a student died at Gordon where I went to college, I wrote about her passing.

Ideas come in many directions.

Tip:
Keep a running list of topics to consider. Review it every once in a while. Add to it. A lot of writers do.

Thanks for checking in.

Victoria

Where do you find ideas? Leave a comment.

Next Time: From Idea to the Hook

The Craft of Songwriting

Welcome to my newest blog. Here, it is my hope, that you will find topics for the craft of songwriting. But not only that, if I can coax some of my networking friends and colleagues I hope that they will add their ideas, opinions, tools of the trade, and reviews.
For most people, when you're called to be a songwriter, and I believe that it is a calling, you develop a desire to write for other people. You're not in it for yourself. You have something to share. That can be a daunting task. "How can I communicate what I want to say?"
You'll discover that it is a personal journey, full of rewrites and hard work, but it is also full of rewards. You are crafting a gift for people when you write.
Some people write to express feelings. They may hear other people say "Me, too", when they share their situations.

Whatever your genre or venue, wherever you share, from time to time you may want to stop by and see our posts. I hope they are helpful.

Best Wishes in your journey.
Feel free to add comments that are helpful to others.

Victoria