Work Together With Melanie
No matter where you are in your music career, leveraging the ART of writing lyrics and having a Song Lyric Editor by your side will help you write original, unique, and catchy lyrics to boost your impact and success.
What is Song Lyric Editing?
It's the Key to Unlock the Magic.
You’ve written a song. Or a big chunk of an album. But now you’re stuck. All the advice you’ve heard is: Write and get to the finish line. But now what? You thought once you got all the words down on the page, it would get easier. But when you look at your lyrics, you’re unsure what to do next.
So you do what Paul McCartney says: "I write a lot of songs, and I'll often put them in a drawer for a while and return to them later. Sometimes I'll change them a lot, and sometimes I'll leave them as they are. But it's always good to get a fresh perspective on your work."
But when you come back to your lyrics with fresh eyes and play them in your head again, you’re not much better off. You’re unsure if you have a one-star or a five-star lyric draft. Does it work? If it doesn’t work, how do you make it work? If it does kind of work, how do you make it one of the best it can be? In other words, how do you level up your lyrics?
You put it back in the drawer because it seems a lot easier to work on a new song. But the same thing happens again. And again. And again. Soon, you’re one of those stereotypical songwriters who writes hundreds of songs but never releases them. Someone who starts but never finishes.
Time to start collaborating?
You decide you need some help. You reach out to other songwriters and musicians to get some feedback on what you've done. And then you wait.
And wait.
And wait.
Finally, you get some feedback, but it’s impossible to follow. There’s advice on a few individual lines and maybe some vague feedback on bigger chunks of the concepts, all mixed up with talk about your lyric's form and structure or your writing style — but regarding your lyrics' content, nothing concrete. Nothing that explains specific problems and gives you the steps you need to follow to fix them. You’re still stuck.
This is the same situation Pierre found himself in a few months ago. He had finished the lyrics for a song and was stuck with no idea what to do next.
This is when he reached out to Melanie, a Story Grid Certified Editor with a focus on the Art of Writing Lyrics, and sent her his lyrics.
Melanie did not send Pierre a dozen pages of indecipherable notes. Instead, she systematically put the lyrics through her SONG revision framework. She recorded a video review for him and explained to him what was working in the lyrics and what wasn’t. Melanie helped Pierre discover the song he truly intended to write, a song that drew on his own experience and strengths and that would resonate with listeners.
Through that specific lyric feedback, Melanie provided clear guidance on what Pierre could to do next to improve the song lyrics and suggested some masterworks to listen to for inspiration.
By the end of the call, Pierre had two critical things:
- A comprehensive picture of the current state of his song lyrics.
- A clear understanding of the next best steps for improving the lyrics.
Here’s what Pierre said after working with Melanie:
Want to go from a Lyric Draft to great Lyrics?
Maybe your dream used to be finishing a song, but that’s changed now. You don’t just want a song; you want a compelling song that touches hearts and changes lives. You want to transform your “meh” draft into something you’re proud to show the whole world.
And you want to improve as a songwriter.
You’re no longer focused on leveling up one draft; it’s about leveling up as a songwriter. You want to understand writing lyrics beyond lyric form and structure or the writing style. You want to explore the ART — crafting the lyrics' content, message, and the listeners' experience. You don’t want to make the same mistakes over and over. You want to make some newer, better mistakes that move you closer to your big goals.
You want to engage in a process of revision that will stick with you and make you a better songwriter. By the end, your revised lyrics will be very powerful.
And your next draft will work better, too.
And your next.
You’ll be a songwriter who doesn’t just write songs; you’ll be one who writes and finishes compelling and meaningful song lyrics that move people.
Song Lyric Editing
What it is, what it's not.
Song lyric editing, as I define it, is like refining the soul of a song. It's diving deep into the heart of the lyrics, looking beyond the surface techniques, and diving into the core story and message.
In simple terms:
- Narrative & Progression: It's about ensuring that the song has a clear storyline or progression. Does the song take the listener on a journey? Is there a beginning, middle, and end? Does it make sense and flow naturally?
- Message & Meaningful Takeaway: Every song tells a story, but what is it truly trying to convey? Song lyric editing pinpoints that message and ensures it shines brightly, resonating with listeners and leaving them with a memorable and meaningful takeaway.
- Audience Experience: At the end of the day, songs are for listeners. Song lyric editing focuses on the experience the lyrics provide. Does it captivate? Does it evoke emotion? Does it connect on a deeper level?t
To sum it up, think of a song as a beautiful, vast landscape. While the structure and style are the physical features - the mountains, rivers, and trees - song lyric editing is about capturing the essence of that landscape, the feeling it evokes, the stories it tells, and the memories it leaves behind. It's the soul behind the scenery.
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