A New Forum
April 3rd, 2010 | 
Author: If you look at the top of this page, you’ll see a new “Forum” tab. I’ve been running a songwriting forum for several years and now I’m hoping to get people to migrate over to this new one, which is a little simpler and easier for me to manage. Plus you’ve got everything in one place, the articles, the info and the forum. I like that :-).
Join up and start a conversation, or respond to one of my articles if you like. Or you can post a song lyric or two if you wish. Hopefully the forum will add to the community of this website.
IJ
Posted in 
April 10th, 2010 9:27 am
I’ve got my first 12 songs written, sort of arranged, and either recorded or waiting to be recorded. I don’t want to write the same 12 again, just said a different way. What are tips for expanding the muse in a new direction?
April 12th, 2010 9:01 am
First of all, stop listening to what you’ve just recorded…there’s always a temptation to keep listening to your old stuff and continuously reassessing it
That just reinforces your “same old” stuff. Probably more than anything else, you need to walk away from it for awhile.
Some people “freshen” their writing sound by listening to other songs, sometimes even something in a completely different genre. And if you’re a musician, you can even go as far as playing a few of these songs. Learn the progressions, analyze the melodies, read through their lyrics.
Beyond that, go out and live your life for awhile…you’ve got to find some new experiences to write about if you want to stop writing about the old ones!
IJ
April 13th, 2010 5:39 am
i have a talent in writing..i dream of songs and get up and write them..i have 25 altogether.i believe(of course)that they are something awesome..here are my questions..they are written,not put to music,do i submit them to a publisher like that,what do i do and where do i go from here,do i copyright the songs…i need help..
April 13th, 2010 6:22 am
Hi Adam,
Publishers don’t take lyrics only. What you need to do is to find someone who can put music to your lyrics. I don’t know where you’re from, but if you can find any songwriting groups in your area, that’s one idea. Put a note up in your local music store asking for someone who might want to help you. Or you can join the different songwriting forums on the web and try to find someone that way. Ultimately, you might consider learning an instrument yourself…that would take some time and it might not be your thing, but then at least you could put together some musical ideas yourself, even if you still end up letting someone else do the music.
Even though a lot of people talk about obtaining a copyright for your song right away, you really don’t need to do that until you are ready to send the song out to publishers.
Good luck!
IJ