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Make it your craft, not your life
Don't make the mistake of confusing your life with your craft. A song may seem like it's about the writers own personal experience. But it ain't necessarily so - and that opens another can of worms about writing lyrics, and maintaining inspiration all the way through a piece.
Most lyric writers, myself included, start because they need to express their personal joy, angst and confusion about their lives. But if you're productivity is only going to carry you as far as your current crisis, you're likely to run out of material eventually, or else write only sporadically. When you delve down into your soul, and find only reruns of "Friends", what are you going to do? Go out and get run over by a woman (or a man, or a pickup truck) so you will have something to write about? Nothing to laugh at - I'm sure some people do.
Good writing is a craft that combines emotion, inspiration, skill, and lots of practice. At some point you have to be able to draw on your well of emotion and personal experience to convincingly turn situations and stories into your own. When you can blend the dispassionate skill of writing with the emotion of the poet, you take a huge step forward in being able to write consistently and productively. I didn't know this - I just stumbled on it within the past year. I hope that sharing it with you gives you something to think about, so you can reach this point a lot faster than I did.
Most lyric writers, myself included, start because they need to express their personal joy, angst and confusion about their lives. But if you're productivity is only going to carry you as far as your current crisis, you're likely to run out of material eventually, or else write only sporadically. When you delve down into your soul, and find only reruns of "Friends", what are you going to do? Go out and get run over by a woman (or a man, or a pickup truck) so you will have something to write about? Nothing to laugh at - I'm sure some people do.
Good writing is a craft that combines emotion, inspiration, skill, and lots of practice. At some point you have to be able to draw on your well of emotion and personal experience to convincingly turn situations and stories into your own. When you can blend the dispassionate skill of writing with the emotion of the poet, you take a huge step forward in being able to write consistently and productively. I didn't know this - I just stumbled on it within the past year. I hope that sharing it with you gives you something to think about, so you can reach this point a lot faster than I did.
:(
DAmn it!! I've just write a LONG comment about the romantic and surrealist writers... wich took me almost half an hour to finish... and then it won't show up 
I'm afraid I don't have the time now to re-write it, but I'll probably do it later. In essence, it was about this guys idea of giving the emotion, "inspiration", the first place and the skill and practice just a secundary place... so if you'd like to know what was it about, let me know and I'll find the time to write the comment again... or I can write it in spanish now 
Cheers.
I'm afraid I don't have the time now to re-write it, but I'll probably do it later. In essence, it was about this guys idea of giving the emotion, "inspiration", the first place and the skill and practice just a secundary place... so if you'd like to know what was it about, let me know and I'll find the time to write the comment again... or I can write it in spanish now Cheers.
In an interview a French singer song writer was ask about his album called "drinking" if it was a reflection of his life he answer that nobody would ask a crime novel writer if he was a serial killer!
I thought that was really to the point
I thought that was really to the point