Story-First Songwriting

✅ Stop guessing if your lyrics work. Learn story-first songwriting and turn every idea into music-ready lyrics with a proven, repeatable system. Join our community: Story-First Songwriting on Skool.👉 ⁠skool.com/songwriting/about⁠

Today, I wanna take the chance and introduce myself to you. Especially, I wanna tell you the story about the time in my life when I was completely lost, on my own, literally at the end of the world, and how one song gave me the strength to carry on… and what all of that taught me about what makes lyrics powerful.

So it’s all about my journey, so to say, and why I’m so passionate about the power of lyrics. Because this is the most incredible thing ever. 

So here’s how everything started.

✅ Stop guessing if your lyrics work. Learn story-first songwriting and turn every idea into music-ready lyrics with a proven, repeatable system. Join our community: Story-First Songwriting on Skool.👉 ⁠skool.com/songwriting/about⁠

You know, I always consider what happens in a powerful lyric like a journey.
 
It’s basically about watching a character move from one point in their life to another.
 
They are in a certain external or internal situation, and they wanna get from where they are to a better place.
 
So there’s always this little journey that the song’s main character goes on.
 
But before anyone moves in life and takes action, most of the time, though, something must happen beforehand.
 
And that’s what today’s episode is all about.
 
It’s about that incident that makes them see that they gotta pursue what they want so that they can get rid of an imbalance.
 
It’s like they feel that something is off, and they’re pulled towards something better — externally or internally.
 
So, if you want to find out how to write lyrics with a meaningful message, then this episode is the first part of five to doing just that.
 
Here's what we'll cover:

• [00:01:37] 5 Commandments
• [00:03:54] Definition of the Inciting Incident
• [00:08:31] Creating Drive in the Audience
• [00:09:29] Causal and Coincidental Inciting Incidents
• [00:11:03] Placement of the Inciting Incident

 
Show Notes

• #37 - Attention Grabbing Opening Lines - Part 1: The Powerful Problem
• Hot Legs lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
• That's Amore lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
• I Will Survive lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
• The Foundations of Decay lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
• Stan lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc
• I'll Be There For You lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group

You know, I always consider what happens in a powerful lyric like a journey.

It’s basically about watching a character move from one point in their life to another.

They are in a certain external or internal situation, and they wanna get from where they are to a better place.

So there’s always this little journey that the song’s main character goes on.

But before anyone moves in life and takes action, most of the time, though, something must happen beforehand.

And that’s what today’s episode is all about.

It’s about that incident that makes them see that they gotta pursue what they want so that they can get rid of an imbalance.

It’s like they feel that something is off, and they’re pulled towards something better — externally or internally.

So, if you want to find out how to write lyrics with a meaningful message, then this episode is the first part of five to doing just that.

Here's what we'll cover:

1. [00:01:37] 5 Commandments
2. [00:03:54] Definition of the Inciting Incident
3. [00:08:31] Creating Drive in the Audience
4. [00:09:29] Causal and Coincidental Inciting Incidents
5. [00:11:03] Placement of the Inciting Incident

Show Notes

• #37 - Attention Grabbing Opening Lines - Part 1: The Powerful Problem
• Hot Legs lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
• That's Amore lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
• I Will Survive lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
• The Foundations of Decay lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
• Stan lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc
• I'll Be There For You lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group

FREE WEBCLASS:

How To Come Up With Song Ideas Even If You Think There's Nothing Left To Write About.

Visit: https://lyrics.storiesinsongs.com/

✅ Stop guessing if your lyrics work. Learn story-first songwriting and turn every idea into music-ready lyrics with a proven, repeatable system. Join our community: Story-First Songwriting on Skool.👉 ⁠skool.com/songwriting/about⁠

In today’s episode, I want to talk with you about you, your purpose, and why we write lyrics. 

For me, when it comes to writing – no matter if it’s novels or lyrics – I use my words as the means to communicate with my audience and deliver a meaningful message that has the power to make an impact on them. 

And I guess, since you are here, you have the same desire. You want to be heard because you have something to say about life. And what you have to say matters.

But communicating what we have to say in a way that matters to others isn’t easy. We can’t be preaching to the choir. We can’t take the role of a parent and say: Don’t do this because it leads to … We all know that no one listens if you preach it to them. On the other hand, if we are direct and say it bluntly, people might hear our words, but they will not care or take them seriously. We could also just write an academic paper and explain why our message is important … But who’s ever going to read that bulky volume?

That’s why in today’s episode, we talk about a storytelling principle that helps you deliver your message in a way that affects lives, changes minds, touches hearts, and makes an impact. 

Because what it all comes down to is that we, as songwriters, lyricists, and storytellers, have an amazing power to influence people’s lives and make a positive, even life-changing, contribution.

But that only works if we rely on one of the most basic and most important storytelling principles. 

What that is, well, you're about to find out.


Podcast Overview:

• [00:02:25] Treat A Song Like An Experience
• [00:05:29] Why Stories Matter
• [00:11:12] The Five Commandments of Storytelling
• [00:15:16] Wrap up - 5 Commandments

✅ Stop guessing if your lyrics work. Learn story-first songwriting and turn every idea into music-ready lyrics with a proven, repeatable system. Join our community: Story-First Songwriting on Skool.👉 ⁠skool.com/songwriting/about⁠

In today’s episode, we’ll go through the lyrics of  “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not” by Thompson Square.

And I tell you, as I first listened to the song. I thought: Quite nice. But I didn’t give the lyrics much thought. But now, after I have studied the lyrics and their storytelling power, I must say, I’m super surprised by how well-crafted those lyrics are. 

It’s like when you say: Yes, Game of Thrones by G.R.R. Martin is a nice fantasy series. When it truth, it’s an epic masterwork.

And somehow, I feel like the lyrics to this song don’t get appreciated enough. They are so well-crafted that it is a delight to take them apart and just see how well they’ve been strung together.

So if you aim to write a love song that smoothly flows through a narrative and gives your audience a fully-satisfied listening experience, I invite you to study the lyrics of “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not” by Thompson Square with me.

Episode Overview:

[00:01:45] The S.O.N.G. Framework

[00:03:07] “Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not” by Thompson Square 

[00:05:22] Step 1: Summary - What is the song about?

[00:15:13] Step 2: Observer - Who is the main character of the song?

[00:23:51] Step 3: Narration - Analyzing the storytelling craft.

[00:30:25] Analyzing the scene told in the song.

[00:35:20] The Change

[00:37:41] Writing Techniques

[00:40:15] Step 4: Gist - What is the message of the song?

[00:43:16] What we've learned from “You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This”

[00:45:43] Song Exercise - The First Kiss

✅ Stop guessing if your lyrics work. Learn story-first songwriting and turn every idea into music-ready lyrics with a proven, repeatable system. Join our community: Story-First Songwriting on Skool.👉 ⁠skool.com/songwriting/about⁠

#043 - Welcome to part 3 of our mini-series of Attention-Grabbing Opening Lines.

In episode 41 of the Stories in Songs Podcast, I’m gonna throw a lot of questions at you.

Why?

Listen to the show and find out. ;-)

Episode Overview

[00:00:53] The Intriguing Question

[00:03:37] Different Types of Questions to ask

[00:07:13] Song Examples that start with a question

[00:09:49] The Intriguing Question – Wrapup

✅ Stop guessing if your lyrics work. Learn story-first songwriting and turn every idea into music-ready lyrics with a proven, repeatable system. Join our community: Story-First Songwriting on Skool.👉 ⁠skool.com/songwriting/about⁠

#040 - Creating A One-Sentence Lyric Outline To Guide Your Writing Process.

In today’s episode, we continue with steps Two and Three to Creating A One-Sentence Lyric Outline To Guide Your Writing Process.

If you haven’t listened to episode 38 yet where we talked about the character’s literal action, please go back to that episode and listen to it. It’s vital if you want to move forward with me in this episode. 

I’ll include a short recap, but listen to the full episode if you haven’t yet.

Episode Overview:

• [00:01:15] Your Lyric Writing Compass Point
• [00:03:40] Literal Action - Recap
• [00:08:57] A Character’s Essential Tactic
• [00:13:26] The Purpose of Essential Tactics
• [00:17:52] Change and Valences
• [00:22:07] Direct Address, Conflict, and the Question of Who Wins?
• [00:27:10] The Lyric’s Guiding Message
• [00:31:41] Lyric Writing With Intention

Show Notes

• Another Day In Paradise lyrics © Concord Music Publishing LLC
• Welcome To The Jungle lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
• I Will Survive lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

✅ Stop guessing if your lyrics work. Learn story-first songwriting and turn every idea into music-ready lyrics with a proven, repeatable system. Join our community: Story-First Songwriting on Skool.👉 ⁠skool.com/songwriting/about⁠

#39 - Today, we continue with another technique of how you can create an attention-grabbing opening line for your lyrics beginning.

And specifically, we talk about the Shocking Statement and different ways how you can pull it off to stun your audience and make them wanna hear more!

Episode Overview:

• [00:01:08] The Shocking Statement
• [00:03:35] Different Ways to Create a Shocking Statement:
• [00:07:02] More examples of songs that start with a Shocking Statement
• [00:11:16] The Shocking Statement - Wrapup

Show Notes

• Dead! lyrics © Blow The Doors Off The Jersey Shore Music Inc

Visit ⁠⁠lyricmastery.com⁠⁠ for everything on storytelling in songwriting.

✅ Stop guessing if your lyrics work. Learn story-first songwriting and turn every idea into music-ready lyrics with a proven, repeatable system. Join our community: Story-First Songwriting on Skool.👉 ⁠skool.com/songwriting/about⁠

#038 - Let's address the question of why we should look at the craft of storytelling when we write our lyrics – apart from the impact the power of storytelling has on our audience. 

Let's focus on our writing process.

Because when we write our lyrics, it’s good to know where we are going. Otherwise, we’re just writing words that are all over the place. 

And that’s going to feel messy to our listeners. So to write a good line or lyric section, we have to ensure that every part of the lyric does what it’s supposed to: Engage and connect. 

And once we get a clear idea of what we are trying to accomplish, everything unlocks.

So if you look for a compass point that helps you write your lyrics with clarity and intention, this episode is for you.

Episode Overview:

• [00:02:21] Your Lyric Writing Compass Point
• [00:05:59] Your character’s literal action
• [00:12:20] The Size of The Cast in Your Lyric
• [00:16:58] Setting and Context
• [00:18:58] The Purpose of Literal Action 
• [00:23:32] Recap: Literal Action

Show Notes

• Another Day In Paradise lyrics © Concord Music Publishing LLC
• Welcome To The Jungle lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
• You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This lyrics © Tokeco Tunes
• I Will Survive lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

✅ Stop guessing if your lyrics work. Learn story-first songwriting and turn every idea into music-ready lyrics with a proven, repeatable system. Join our community: Story-First Songwriting on Skool.👉 ⁠skool.com/songwriting/about⁠

#037 - How can we write an attention-grabbing opening line so that we can hook our listener with our first line?

In today’s age, thousands of distractions compete for our audience’s attention. And if our song doesn’t hook our listeners straight away, they might not listen to it at all.

But we want to get heard, right?

Songs are a powerful way to make an impact on someone – in as little as three minutes. But in order to get our message across or what we have to say about life, we have to get people’s attention right from the first line on. Otherwise, … it’s like a movie. If we miss the beginning, it’s so hard to catch up on and we probably give up anyway.

So let’s talk about ways to make sure our listeners actually want to listen to our lyrics … and how we can achieve that with our opening line.

Episode Overview

[00:01:42] The Purpose of a Strong Opening Line in Songs

[00:06:00] The Opening Line of the Powerful Problem

[00:10:24] How to pull off the attention-grabbing opening line of the Powerful Problem.

[00:14:41] Song Examples that have lyrics that start with a problem:

[00:23:45] The Powerful Problem - Wrapup

Show Notes

• I'll Be There for You lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group