Free Songwriting Tips

Come up with an interesting idea that your audience can identify with, a feeling that they can relate to.
Listen to all the conversations going on around you, in bars, at work, in the emergency waiting room and in your everyday conversations.
Sit down and think of the time that you felt the strongest emotion, good or bad, of your life. Write about a similar event and you will be guaranteed to have great lyrics.

If you have an interesting topic, then you are halfway there already!
If not, try writing about:

People
Think of a character from a book, a celebrity, political figure, friend or even a stranger, and then write a song about them.
Examples:
Elton John - Candle In The Wind. This song is about the life of Marilyn Monroe
Madonna - Beautiful Stranger
Special AKA - Nelson Mandela

Places
Think of a place you have visited which made an impact on you, for example an impressive landscape or location, country or city, and write a song about that place. Examples:
Katy Perry - Waking Up In Vegas
James Brown - Living In America
UB40 - Kingston Town

Things
Think of an object, animal, or any other thing that inspires you and write a song about it. Songs have been written about everything from cars to pets. Oh and not forgetting body parts!
Examples:
Natalie Cole - Pink Cadillac
Shirley Bassey - Diamonds Are Forever
ZZ Top - Legs

Events
Write a song that tells your version of, or views on, a particular event, such as a crime, natural disaster, sporting occasion or historical event.
Examples:
Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas
England World Cup Squad '82 - This Time (We'll Get It Right)

So there you have it (for now anyway), there are more tips in the featured lenses at the bottom of the page, or if you wish to jump in and master the art of songwriting in greater depth, visit my Songwriting Tips website.

Just as you should do with songwriting and making notes, I got distracted by the television, and was writing notes about what I was watching until totally engrossed in the show - and now it has finished I want to write on here, before I forget!

It was all about Fleetwood Mac, the band and their personalities. Their story is very much about the people in the band and the contribution they made. Their relationships with eachother were a key factor in how they progressed, and noticably in the music that they wrote. The songs written by various members of the band were often a result of the state of their respective relationships. For instance, Stevie Nicks wrote the song 'Dreams' after realising in her own head that her relationship with Lindsey Buckingham was a road to nowhere :(