6-Step Lyric Writing Checklist
Thank you for downloading my 6-Step Lyric Writing Checklist! ​The goal of this checklist is to
give you a clear roadmap from idea to ​fully-written lyrics you can be proud of​.
These are the 6 main steps that I use when I write my lyrics. Directly below, I have a simple
checklist for you to print out and use for each of your songs. ​In the pages after, I break down
each one of these steps in detail to make sure you have a clear roadmap.
Whether you’re trying to write your first song or you’re a seasoned songwriter, I’m confident that
these 6 steps will give you clarity of process and help you take your lyric writing to the next
level. Enjoy!
❏ Capture Concept
❏ Create Brainstorm Sheet
❏ Musical Ideas
❏ Vivid Images
❏ Brainstorm Space
❏ Lyric Writing
❏ Lyric Arranging
❏ Iterative Lyric Editing
Section
Name
Section
Iteration
Done?
Line
Iteration
Done?
Word
Iteration
Done?
❏ Lyric Polishing
1. Capture Concept
Catching inspiration is the beginning of a song. One of the biggest differences between a
songwriter and someone who wrote a song is that a songwriter’s brain is always looking for
something to write about.
They are actively searching for inspiration to capture, rather than passively waiting for
inspiration to come to them.
You should train your brain to constantly be feeling around for ideas.
Whether you are sitting alone in the dark, walking by a couple arguing in a park, watching a
show, or listening to your co-worker’s story at a happy hour, you should be actively searching
for inspiration.
Every song starts with an idea.
Sometimes it’s a lyrical concept such as a theme, story, or symbol.
Sometimes it’s a musical concept such as a melody, chord progression, or bass line.
But every song starts with a concept that you capture.
And you don’t just capture it in your head.
Your head can forget. A notebook or document on your computer doesn’t.
So make a Google doc, Word doc, or whatever your writing tool you prefer, and ​write down
your ideas​.
If your idea is a musical idea, pull out your phone and record that idea. Will it sound great? No,
but that’s not the point.
The point is to not rely on your memory.
2. Create Brainstorm Sheet
The next step in writing a killer lyric is creating your brainstorm sheet.
The point of this sheet is to get all your different ideas out. That way you’ll be equipped to pick
up and run with the best ideas. This prevents you from making the mistake of committing to a
flawed story point or nonsensical metaphor too quickly.
Think of this process like taking the time to look over a map before going on a journey. Sure,
you might not learn the shortest way from A to B just by looking at a map, but you can at least
get a bearing of your surroundings. You’re at least aware of where you are, and where you’re
trying to go.
And, you know what? Where you want to go might change. But at least you’ve seen the map
and know your different options.
Here is an example of what one of my brainstorm sheets may look like:
There are 3 basic sections I use:
Musical Ideas Section
This is where I put my musical ideas for a song. In the above example’s case, it is simply a
reference to the computer folder that contains my recording of musical ideas.
If I don’t have a recording of any musical ideas for the song, I might just jot down some general
thoughts about the musical feel the song should have.
Here are some examples of what that may look like:
●
●
●
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Song that steadily grows from very small to very large over time with limited decreases in
size
Song where every verse does a half-step up key change
Somber sounding song with a lonely sounding piano riff
Catchy sounding song revolving around a bass line and electric guitar hook
Vivid Images
Next, I utilize Google images to get some images that evoke the emotions I want the song to
have.
I tend to be partial to paintings and drawings over photography, and ​I also like to get images
that closely represent what the song is about ​as well as the feelings I want the song to
convey​.
This allows me to look at these inspiring images that conjure certain feelings and tones as I
write the song.
It helps to keep the song in a uniform tone and helps me maintain the same tonal headspace
between different writing sessions.
Be sure to pick whatever art inspires you. If photos work better for you, great. If you’re actually
more inspired by some other form of art such as a poem or video, go for it.
Brainstorm Space
This is the section where you pour out all of your ideas.
Yes, all of them.
Here are some of the things to jot down in this section:
● Ideas of what song may be about
● Any and all related thoughts and ideas that cross your mind
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
Possible story points
Theme ideas
Backstory possibilities
Metaphor/Symbol ideas
Song title ideas
Possible lyrics
Painting word pictures
Don’t edit this section.
Don’t think before you write something down.
Write anything and everything that comes to mind.
Leave your judgement to the editing process. But we aren’t there yet.
So write everything.
3. Lyric Writing
Now it’s time to write your lyrics.
But let me destroy some common notions first:
Lyric writing does not mean to make a first draft of your lyrics
In fact, ​don’t write a first draft​.
What do I mean?
What do you imagine when you think of a “first draft”?
Whether it’s a paper you had to write for school or the first draft of a book, you probably
imagined something like “The original, poorly written version of the paper/book”.
Right? What is the other implication? Well, if you had to write a 5 page paper, I’d say the
implication of a first draft is writing a 5 page “first draft” of that paper.
This is the main implication of a draft I don’t want you to associate with songwriting.
Do not write the same amount of lyrics as you expect the final song to have.
Realistically, your final lyrics for a song will likely fit on a single page. It ​might​ stretch to 2 pages.
But, during the lyric writing process, you should write pages and pages and pages of
lyrics.
All your different lyrical ideas, different ways to tell the same story, different story ideas that tie
to your central theme, and more.
Write 15 pages for your 5 page paper. Or, in this case, write more like 3-5 pages of lyrics for the
final lyric that will fit on a single page.
Writing a ​paper ​is often like re-painting a room. You put on the first coat of primer and it looks
pretty crappy. The previous paint is still showing through.
The second coat looks better, as there is less of the old color bleeding through, but it still
doesn’t look ​great​. So you smooth it over with one more paint job and ​then i​ t’s good to go.
Writing ​lyrics i​ s like being dropped in the middle of a relatively circular island and being
responsible to explore the whole thing.
You can’t just go over the same thing a few times. You have to ​explore​. There is no clear path.
You have to feel around a bit, try some different directions, and maybe get a little lost and forget
where you even started.
That​ is lyric writing.
Just write ​a lot.​
Keep writing. Don’t write a first draft. Write anything and everything that comes to mind
that even remotely relates to your central concept.
4. Lyric Arranging
Think about that messy room in your house.
That room you want to re-arrange. Some stuff you will take out and put into storage, other stuff
you put in the closet, and the rest you organize.
You put the bed up against the inner wall, put the bookshelf on the outside wall, and put the
computer against the wall facing the door, because you don’t want to be playing your game with
headphones on and someone taps you on the shoulder unexpectedly; you want to see them
come in.
That’s the same idea of lyric arranging.
This is when you take your pages of lyrics and pick the best and most cohesive lyrics and put
together the flow of your song.
Do not throw away any lyrics.
Seriously. Never ever throw away lyrics. If you’re working on a Word or Google doc, simply copy
and paste the lyrics you want to use to the top and let all the lyrics you’ve “cut” remain on other
pages within the document.
You may change your mind and want to use something you originally cut. One of those lyrics
may someday inspire you to write another song. You might even re-find those lyrics years later
and write a song based on them.
So do not throw away any lyrics.
Stuff the lyrics in the metaphorical closet, basement, or attic. Not gone, just not actively
cluttering your space reserved for the lyrics that you’re still working with.
Lyric arranging is when you usually have a good idea of what lyrics make up your chorus,
bridge, and verses.
It’s possible you don’t have all of those sections, but lyric arranging is when you start to care
about sections and figure out what you really need to write to fit with the rest of the song.
So, after you start the lyric arranging process, you may realize you have 3 verses that tell a
great story, but no chorus. Now you know you need to write a chorus.
Or, you may have had a chorus for your song since day 1, but you realize you only have 1 verse
that will work.
Now you go back to the lyric writing process with the knowledge of your first verse’s idea. And
you know that you’re explicitly trying to write the second verse, as you already have the first
version of your first verse.
5. Iterative Lyric Editing
Iteration​ is defined as the act or process of repeating. For example, ​iteration​ can include
repetition of a sequence of operations to get ever closer to a desired result​. This is why we want
to learn about ​iterative lyric writing​.
Before we dive into what iterative lyric writing looks like, let’s look at an example of what
iteration looks like in the real world.
Making Your Yard Nicer​:
Iteration 1:
Mow grass.
Iteration 2:
Weed whacking - Now the lawn is looking pretty good.
Iteration 3:
Water grass and trim bushes.
Iteration 4:
Put new mulch down.
Iteration 5:
Gardening - You cut back some plants and plant new ones.
Every iteration the yard has been improved. It didn’t go from a terrible yard to a great one
overnight. It was slowly changed over time. Assuming each “iteration” to be a day, it took 5 days
to complete the conversion of the yard.
This is the heart of iteration. You’re not worried about the end goal, you’re only worried
about taking the next step.
You know that each “next step” will help you get to your end goal, so you are satisfied with
making something better over time.
Now, how do we apply this to our songwriting?
To see iterative lyric editing in practice, let’s take a dive into one of my recent uses of this
process.
This lyric is from a song I finished recently. The section we are going to look at is the second
chorus. The speaker is an old man, talking to a bird who has a broken wing. Winter is coming,
and the bird has been left behind.
The old man sees a reflection of himself in the bird, as they are both largely forgotten by the
world, as they no longer provide “value”. I won’t go too far into all the different parts at work
here, but that’s enough information for us to dive in.
Iterate Over Each Section
First, let’s see what it looks like to iterate over each section.
The first part is to choose the weakest section. Is your 2nd verse the weakest part of your song?
Or is it the chorus or bridge? Whatever section is the weakest, that’s probably where you want
to start your iterative lyric editing.
In this case, I was most unhappy with the 2nd chorus. So that’s the section we’re iterating over
first!
I knew these lyrics needed to be better. But let’s take a look before I talk about why I don’t like it.
I know the pain of a lonely heart
That cheers itself with song
And I hear your melody
You think you don’t belong
I honestly like the first 2 lines. They aren’t quite there, but I like them. I hate the second two
lines. They sound corny. Honestly, they suck.
Those final 2 lines don’t really add anything new. The first two lines reveal that the old man can
relate to a lonely heart that cheers itself with song. So we already know the old man can relate
to loneliness, and the bird is lonely too.
And then the second two lines just repeats that sentiment, but worse and more corny. “I hear
your melody” adds exactly nothing and “You think you don’t belong” is basically just doubling
down on the loneliness that’s already been covered.
So I hate it. Which is why I started the iterative lyric writing process on this part. We’ve now
chosen the section to iterate over, so it’s time to iterate over each line.
Iterate Over Each Line
Now we’re zeroed in on the section we want to make better, so it’s time to make it better
line-by-line.
Let’s look at version 2. I changed 2 different lines for the sake of brevity in this guide.
I know the pain of a lonely heart
That cheers itself with song
I know how hard it is
To always stay so strong
Alright, now we’re ​starting ​to go in the right direction. It’s still kind of corny and definitely not
great, but at least the last 2 lines no longer simply repeat the sentiment of the first 2.
At least we get new information from the second two lines. The old man knows how hard it is to
stay strong. So he’s likely feeling weaker and more vulnerable.
But I’m not sure this is what I want to say here. On to version 3.
I know the pain of a lonely heart
That cheers itself with song
Living in a silent world
Where burdens don’t last long
Now we’re getting somewhere. Mostly because I love the line “where burdens don’t last long”.
This is for several reasons. One is that it asks some questions. Does the old man ​feel h
​ e is a
burden? Does he feel he ​isn’t ​a burden, but he thinks the world feels that way about him? Is he
right?
So I like this. I don’t cringe for the first time. But it’s still not ready. I don’t love the “silent world”.
Now, what I was going for was the “silent world” that the old man lives in, as it’s implied earlier in
the song that he’s in a nursing home or hospital of some sort.
But I don’t really want to comment on the “world” of the hospital or nursing home the old man is
in. I want to comment on the ​actual world ​that the “burdens” line is talking about.
We’re now at the point where I like the “rough draft” of each line, so we’re going to move on to
iterating over each word.
On to version 4. And on to iterating over each word.
Iterate Over Each Word
I know the pain of a lonely heart
That cheers itself with song
Living in a ​busy​ world
Where burdens don’t last long
Ok, so now we’re talking about the world around him. The world is busy and doesn’t have time
for those whose life is not deemed to have “value” to the world.
I like where this is going, but I’m not in love with the word “busy”.
Once again, let’s just tweak that word.
On to version 5.
I know the pain of a lonely heart
That cheers itself with song
Living in an ​absent​ world
Where burdens don’t last long
“Busy” bored me in this context, so “absent” is a clear upgrade. Also, it has a different
connotation. Instead of a world too ​busy t​ o remember others, the world is now too ​absent ​to
remember others.
What I really want is a word that evokes a bit of “busy” and a bit of “absent”.
So we’re on to version 6.
I know the pain of a lonely heart
That cheers itself with song
Living in a ​restless​ world
Where burdens don’t last long
I finally found my word. “Restless” evokes a world too busy to be sticking around. So, even
when they are around, they are still somehow absent. When they are taking the time to be with
someone, they still are feeling restless- needing to get back to their busy world.
Now I’m about equally happy with the first 2 lines and the second 2 lines. But we can still make
it better.
Let’s look back at the first 2 lines for version 7.
I know the ​grief​ of a lonely heart
That cheers itself with song
Living in a restless world
Where burdens don’t last long
I thought “pain” was the most lackluster of the words in the first 2 lines. It just felt too generic
when it could be more evocative if it were more specific.
“Grief” is a clear upgrade here, but, as someone who has experienced a lonely heart before, I
didn’t think it was the most precise word. “Grief” is the type of pain you feel when you have lost
someone close to you, usually to death. But this wasn’t the type of pain I’m talking about here.
On to version 8.
I know the ​ache​ of a lonely heart
That cheers itself with song
Living in a restless world
Where burdens don’t last long
“Ache” is exactly the word for the emotion I’m trying to get across. Not so much a sharp pain,
but something that wears on you. Something constant. Something that hurts just enough to
always affect you, but not take over your life.
The weariness that the word “ache” conveys is perfect, both for the emotion this is trying to
convey, and to generally reflect on the old man’s current state.
But I don’t love the use of the word “living” in the third line. It feels like a lost opportunity to
comment on the old man and bird’s attitude towards the world.
So here’s version 9, the current version.
I know the ache of a lonely heart
That cheers itself with song
Clinging to​ a restless world
Where burdens don’t last long
“Living” is a boring word that told us nothing here. If someone is “living” in a restless world, that
tells us absolutely nothing about their feelings towards this world. Are they angry at it? Do they
care about it? Do they even want to still be in it?
“Clinging to” tells us exactly how they feel about the world. They ​do​ still want the world to care
about them. They still want to be a part of the world, not just left behind.
Also, “clinging to” really doubles down on the “restless world”s attitude toward them. It’s so
restless and ready to move on without them, that they must attempt to ​cling ​to the world; they’re
trying to hold on with the world pulling away.
At each stage of this process, we made the lyric only marginally better, but from version 1 to
version 9, it goes from eye-roll-worthy to a solid lyric that is saying exactly what I want it to say.
Let’s look at the difference from version 1 to version 9:
Version 1:
I know the pain of a lonely heart
That cheers itself with song
And I hear your melody
You think you don’t belong
Version 9
I know the ​ache​ of a lonely heart
That cheers itself with song
Clinging to a restless world
Where burdens don’t last long
In the first version, all we really learn is that both the old man and the bird can relate to being
lonely and feeling like they don’t belong. Not only that, the final 2 lines are cringe-worthy corny.
But, in the second version, we learn ​why​ they are lonely. They are lonely because they are
clinging to a world too restless to have the time for them. The world is moving on. We also have
some questions that can be asked. Are they really burdens? Does the world really see them that
way? Do they think they ​actually are ​burdens, or merely believe ​the world ​sees them that way?
Their hearts ​ache​ due to their constant feeling of loneliness.
I’d say there’s a pretty big difference. This whole process was done on the section level - we
were iteratively making the 2nd chorus better. But, from there, we iteratively made it better on
the line level and then even on the word level.
By the end, the whole section is much better.
Bonus Tip: Your best friend for the word level iteration is ​thesaurus.com​.
6. Lyric Polishing
When you polish something, you aren’t truly changing it.
You’re simply enhancing it. You’re taking what’s already there and making it smoother.
If you polish a car, you aren’t changing its color or its shape.
You’re simply enhancing how its paint job looks.
Lyric polishing is the state your lyrics are in from the point where you think “This is done” until
the day the song is recorded or copyrighted and ​truly​ done.
You may think your lyrics are done until you realize that a line’s a bit awkward because there’s a
word with 3 syllables that really needs to be 2.
So you go to the trusty ​thesaurus.com​ and search for synonyms of that word, much like you
would during the iterative lyric writing process.
Once you find a word that works well lyrically and fits ​better ​rhythmically or musically, you’ve
now polished that line.
Polishing isn’t so much an active process as it is a willingness to adapt lyrics you
considered “done”.
Basically, always keep an open mind to minorly adjusting your lyrics to fit with the music better.
Also, if you become dissatisfied with a word choice later, change it!
Your song isn’t done until it’s released and copyrighted, so keep an open mind to make minor
adjustments that make the final product shine.
In Review...
1.
2.
3.
4.
Capture Concept​ to find inspiration and store ideas where they can’t be lost.
Create Brainstorm Sheet​ to flesh out and explore ideas freely.
Lyric Writing ​to give yourself creative room to write and explore in all lyrical directions.
Lyric Arranging ​to narrow your lyrics down to the “rough draft” and figure out what other
parts you need to keep writing for.
5. Iterative Lyric Editing ​to incrementally make your lyrics better until your rough lyrics
become something to be proud of.
6. Lyric Polishing ​to make any necessary slight adjustments to make the song work
better, whether that be musically or lyrically.
Thank you again for downloading and reading my 6-Step Lyric Writing Checklist. To learn more
about songwriting, be sure to visit ​songwritertheory.com​.
Keep Songwriting!
Joseph