In a world of mass-produced goods and music, how can you set yourself apart as an individual?
If you own a guitar or a keyboard, thousands of people probably own the same instrument. Theirs look and sound identical to yours, give or take a few stickers and scuff marks.
Look around your home, and you’ll find dozens of mass-produced items that others own too: Your silverware sits on your neighbor’s table. Your armchair creaks under the weight of strangers. When you watch a TV show, that same show flickers on the walls of homes stretching from your neighborhood to distant cities.
Not only do strangers own your instrument’s identical twin; there’s a good chance that they use it to play the very same cover songs you play.
How to write songs and stand out
It’s hard to be individual in a world like ours. By writing a lyric, by creating something, you give yourself a chance to be original in a world of sameness. Every time you sit down to write a song, or work on your songwriting skills, you’re choosing to create instead of consume. You’re setting yourself apart.
After a TV show ends, you’re left no different than you were 22 minutes earlier. That show took up your time and probably gave you some momentary amusement in return. But if you were to write for 22 minutes instead, you could learn things and stretch your skills. You create a little something that you can point to and say “I made that.”
You could be zoning out with a video game, but instead you’re thinking about a lyric. You could be poking around on Facebook, but instead you’re learning music theory. You could be putting your feet up and watching Netflix, but instead you’re flipping through a rhyming dictionary or trying to understand an Emily Dickinson poem.
Even when the writing is difficult, you can be proud that you endured it – then you walk away enriched by the experience. This is all worth celebrating.
How to get songs written and have fun?
Songwriting, like so many arts and crafts, requires a sense of playfulness, openness, and good humor. We shouldn’t damn ourselves or judge our own efforts in a cruel way. It should be fun to create.
In a way, choosing to turn off the TV, silence your phone, and settle in with a notebook isn’t a sacrifice – it can be a joy, and a celebration of life. It’s a gift to yourself. Some day you will look back on today, and smile to know that you chose to do something a little more challenging and rewarding with your time.
I’d like to offer you a challenge: leave the TV off tonight. Instead, you could:
- Listen to a classic album
- Read a classic work of literature
- Study music theory
- Study writing techniques
- Improvise a little music
- Answer a writing prompt
Go ahead and struggle a little. Get yourself stuck, unstuck, and stuck again. Who says that this craft can’t be difficult and fun? By putting in a little extra effort, you open yourself to a mix of influences and experiences that are uniquely your own. It’s one of the best gifts you can give to yourself.
Have fun. Happy writing.
Photo of faceless Lego people by Ansik