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Want to hear Townes’ tell this story in his own words plus hear him sing the song? Click HERE!

The important thing if you’re a beginner is to jump in and start writing and always play to your strengths. If you’re Creative Writing major then emphasize the lyrics. If you’re a Music Performance major then start working on those melodies. The important thing is to start finding your way and to get started. Keep in mind that many of you will not write great melodies and lyrics. You may need a co-writer and there’s nothing wrong with that. We’ll talk about co-writing later in this course.

One thing to keep in mind is that it’s important to care about what you’re writing about. The listener is surprisingly intuitive and can often sense when the songwriter is not vested in or not knowledgeable about the subject they’re writing about. No matter what kind of life you’ve led up until putting pen to paper or music onto a hard drive or however you choose to write, always write about what you know. Have you had numerous affairs of the heart or are you still waiting for love to find you? Write about it! Are you politically active or don’t care for politics? Write about it! Did you have loving and supportive parents or were you abandoned at a young age? Write about it! In this modern era of songwriting nothing is off limits so have at it! Just make sure you’re writing about what you know.

Another beginner mistake is to assume that songwriting is easy work. It’s not. I should say that for many people writing a mediocre song is easy but writing a very good or great song rarely is. It’s hard work but also very satisfying. I’m not sure why novices make this assumption. Perhaps it’s the way songwriters are portrayed in film. They’re usually hunched over a piano scribbling on their sheet music as brilliant ideas occur to them or more likely beginners see the hard work of songwriting being potentially daunting.

One more thing to keep in mind is please be patient and try not to get discouraged. As we previously mentioned it’s easy to write a mediocre song but very difficult to write a great one. Understand that it will take you awhile to hone your craft. It may take many years. This was true for me. Just enjoy the ride and don’t get overly concerned about the destination.

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