The goal of these prompts is to help you get to know yourself better as a songwriter — and also to fill up a few of those blank pages in your practice journal.
You can spend anywhere from a few minutes to an hour on each of these prompts, depending on how much any given prompt provokes you.
Dig in!
Listening
- List five great songs you’d like to listen to — and really savor — this week.
- Pick a favorite song and ask yourself: “Why do I like this song so much?” What do you love about it? Is it the way the song makes you feel? What technical elements are causing that feeling? Explain in as much technical detail as you can.
- Something I’ve noticed in songs by other musicians that I can’t stand is…
Journal Prompts About Practice
- “What’s the most important thing for me to practice today?”
- “Why have I been avoiding [repeatedly procrastinated task or project]?”
- Think back to a time when you felt really inspired and focused on your creative work. What was life like then? Recall as many details as you can; try to describe the atmosphere with all of your senses. Explore what went right, and look for things you might be able to use to make future sessions go smoothly, too.
- “My ideal practice space would include…”
- “How am I feeling about songwriting right now?”
- “The hardest part of songwriting for me is…”
- “Today my practice was [focused, distracted, too difficult, too easy]…”
- “Tomorrow, I should practice: …”
Journal Prompts About Projects
- “What qualities do I value most in a bandmate (or collaborator)?”
- “Why am I feeling so [happy, sad, doubtful, depressed] about my creative work?”
- “How am I feeling about (specific song or project) right now?”
- “The most important skill I need to help me finish this song is…”
- “What resources are available to me?” Take a complete inventory of instruments, skills, equipment, teaching materials, and so on.
- “How do I feel about [upcoming gig, recording date, or collaboration?]”
Good Times
- Write out a “win list” of high points in your pursuit of music and lyric writing.
- What most excites you about songwriting?
- Who or what first inspired you to take up songwriting? This can be someone you knew directly in your life, or it can be someone whose recorded works inspired you.
- List out all of the songs you’ve ever finished.
- “Of all the songs I’ve written, [song name] is my favorite because…”
- “Out of all my previous live performances, the best one was…”
Character Sketches, Unsent Letters, and Smashing Reviews
- Write a character sketch of a musician or a writer whom you admire. Be sure to include all the thins that you most admire in them.
- Write a character sketch of your future self when you’ve reached the levels of skill you hope to reach. What will you look like, how will you handle yourself, what will you be like to interact with?
- If you’re working on an album or another project, write a short review of the album from an enthusiastic critic’s point of view.
- Write a short note to a musician you admire — this is a letter you’re never going to send. Make a respectfully critical comment — surely theres’s something about your hero’s music or lyrics that you think could be a little better, or a little different in at least some small way. Go ahead and tell them. Again, you don’t have to send this letter; this exercise is purely for your own benefit.
- Write a letter to your own internal critic. Try to reason with him or her.
- Got a gig or a collaboration coming up? Write a character sketch of yourself as you want to be seen in that situation. How can you prepare so that you’re more likely to perform that well?
The Big Picture
- “Where am I in the bigger picture of my journey as a songwriter?”
- “In what order am I a songwriter, instrumentalist, singer? Which of those do I want to be the main focus of my journey as an artist?”
- “My wildest dream as a songwriter is…”
- “My greatest fear as a songwriter is…”
- “If I could play this song for anyone, I’d like to play it for…”