This year I participated in February: Album Writing Month (FAWM), a challenge for musicians who’re willing to “go after inspiration with a club.”
FAWM is all about hitting the gas pedal and creating something–no more excuses, no more procrastination, no more perfectionism. Just 14 songs written by the end of 28 days. It’s a sprinting exercise, an exercise in quantity.
I wrote a songwriting ebook last month, and that tied me up until Feb. 14th—but I did manage to write five instrumentals, one complete song, and eight complete lyrics during the remainder of February.
Only a few of the lyrics are likely to ever see daylight, but I’m okay with that. We practice guitar scales. We practice chord progressions. We rehearse performances. Why not rehearse the process of writing an album?
If you’re a perfectionist, I’d highly recommend trying a sprinting exercise similar to FAWM. It’s easy:
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- Set a challenge that feels like a far reach: an album’s worth of songs, maybe. Or 50 complete lyrics. Or 100 melodies.
- Set a hard deadline. Post it on your wall. Write it on your calendar. Stick a note in your mirror.
- Inform friends and other songwriters of your epic goal. Ask them to prod you every few days. Better yet, invite them to join you. Peer pressure can help you work miracles.
If you’ve set a high goal, your challenge will likely feel stressful. You’ll be reaching, and you’ll feel the burn. To finish FAWM, I sat down on the very last day and wrote eight complete lyrics. It was much more than I’m used to, and it hurt—but the very next day, I sprang out of bed wanting to write more songs.
Those eight lyrics are a mess, of course. Next stop? March: Album Rewriting Month. MARM. Who’s with me?
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