I too write alot in notebooks, I've got TONS of 'em. But, I usually tailor my lyrics around the feeling I get when I hear the particular music. I do admit to using an online rhyming dictionary now and again. It's also great for getting different words with the same meaning. I'm an idiot and can't remember what the F they're called..........Anyhow, yeah. Cool topic Bruce.

GET Drunk....feel the emotions ...think about good times , think about bad times , think about life times.
Get a a hand held recorder ...cuz when when your drunk you can't remember shit...like how to spell or write ..not that thats important. LOL
Seriously, hand held recorder...not that I'm a great lyricist
which I'm not. Even in any kind of business ....you can record and later replay the recorded ideas that may contribute to your writing. It works in sales as well.
Just a thought
Senor

Reminds me of the movie "Almost Famous"

Phillip Seymour Hoffman's portrayal of Lester Bangs:

"I used to take codene......a little bit of cough syrup, and stay up all night and write! Like 25 pages of drivel, you know like the stages Coltrane and sh*t like that?......"

Hey, it might work.

Oh yeah, it helps if you really mean it, but it can still be done well even if you don't.

Re-writes are cool. Try speeding up that slow song, or slowing down that fast song.
Try a whole new beat or attitude.
The good ones want to be born.

I write lots of songs in my car. I keep a little note pad there and when I hear a song on the radio that I like and that I think will go over well at a show, I WRITE it down. Then I learn it and play it at my next show. I write lots of songs that way.

So you're saying that the lyrics come out of the guitar?

The way the song is gonna go and what it;'s about, which string is that on?

Sorry Juice. The song comes from you. Not the guitar.

Writing music is easy. I can create a great pop song in about a minute or so, but writing lyrics...

Morganic, Rome wasn't built in a day. Believe it not many songwriters who start out find very quickly that they start to repeat themselves in many ways either with phrases or musicaly and melodically. It can seem frustrating at first because you would like to think of yourself as more diverse.

But learning to use your comfort zone of who you are as an artist is a gradual thing. Not like learning 10 cover songs in one night. It's a growing process and not moving forward despite the results will only serve to shackle you.

It's not as easy as it seems but each time you push on those obsticles will seem to be less and less intimidating.

So here are some quick-tips for writing lyrics that I found:

i- Stick to topics that everyone can relate to. Songs about love work really well, because who hasn't been there? Two other topics that resonate with people: social issues and family.

ii- Unless your mission is to set poems to music, avoid trying to be overly poetic. It often comes off sounding a bit corny. Find basic ways of conveying your thoughts and feelings.

iii- Be focussed and concise with your lyrics. Find the most efficient way possible to say what you want to say. Wordy texts sound cumbersome, and distract from the flow. Remove unneccessary words.

iv- Be creative without going overboard.

v- When in doubt, use familiar, everyday language to convey your thoughts.

vi- Relate a story, not just your emotions. Don't just tell the listener how you feel - tell them a story that they can relate to. That way, there's more of a chance the listener will feel that your story is their story, and they'll create their own emotions to suit it. When that happens... you've written a killer song!

If you find that you get stuck in the lyric-phase of writing, the way out may be easier than you think. Just simplify your lyric, and you've probably gone a long way to solving the lyric-writing dilemma.

Rawg, booze isn't a secret.

VAGINA is always a good subject