I am often asked by amateur writers how to become a professional writer. The answer is really very easy. Write better songs than you are writing now. But for some reason, most people think they have already arrived at that professional level and that there must be some magic formula that will make success happen for them.
The truth is, if your songs are good, people will hunt you down to try and record them. You do not have to spend enormous amounts of money, trying to be heard. One Hit song will speak louder than any advertising you could ever buy. If you have a Hit song, then sing it! Somebody somewhere will hear it eventually and want to record it.
I have covered many topics about music business since I started writing these articles, almost two years ago. I have talked about rhyming, song structure, pitching, presenting yourself in a professional manner, and so on. But I realized the other day that there was one topic that I have never addressed, and that is TALENT.
For some reason, a lot of people think that talent is the one piece of the puzzle that they really don't have to have in order to be successful at songwriting. They think that if they follow all the rules of songwriting, and all the DO's and DON'Ts of music business, then they will be successful. While it is true that God can bless anybody HE chooses and make them successful, the fact is that most of the people HE is blessing with songwriting success are people to whom HE gave talent to write songs.
Here are some questions you may want to ask yourself.
1. How many songs have you written in your lifetime?
From the age of Seven to age Seventeen, I had written over 300 songs. Most of them were bad, but some of them showed some promise. I wasn't yet trying to get those songs recorded, I was singing them in church, and learning what did and did not work. If you have talent, then you must develop it and cause it to grow. If you are not writing songs, then you are not developing that talent.
2. Do you have the talent of a professional songwriter?
People with talent continue to improve. Look at the songs you wrote five years ago and see if they are of the same quality you are writing now. Have you been studying the art of songwriting? If you have, then your talent should have manifested itself in some way and caused you to start writing better songs over time.
3. Have you mistaken Desire for Talent?
This is a big one. Most amateur songwriters are full of desire to see their songs recorded by well known artists. But desire alone will never make it happen. It's very difficult to ask yourself this question and accept a truthful answer. Has anyone ever asked to sing one of your songs, even a local artist who does not record? If not, then you may want to take a real close personal look at whether you have any talent for this or not.
I met Rodney Griffin and John Rowsey about 13 years ago. Neither one of these men had written a chart song yet. I reviewed some of their songs, and they were certainly not the quality level of material that they write today. But both of these men began to study the craft of songwriting, and then their talent took over. The quality of songs they write now is far above what they wrote then.
There were other writers I met during that same period who wrote songs of equal quality to the ones that Rodney and John were writing. Unfortunately, many of those writers are still writing that same quality, or they have given up on songwriting altogether.
If you are honest with yourself, you may realize that you are chasing a DESIRE and trying to develop a TALENT that does not exist.
But this is not bad. The truth can set you free. You'll be free to continue writing if you see that there really is talent, or you will be free to walk in other areas where God has truly called you.
Until next time, keep on writing, if that's what you know you should be doing!
Author: Daryl Williams
| Author's Website: http://darylwilliamstrio.net
Written: 01/01/2005
| 
Category: Monthly ArticlesThe Songwriter
Comments: 13
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That's rich...
This is a very good article. I hope I heed it.
Wow, Daryl, now that is an honest article. Great job.
Right on Daryl, You're amazing in your writing and in your experience. We love learning from you and will continue to do so.
I devour everything I can about writing lyrics and have improved loo% since last year. I want to continue to improve. I can also write melodies for my lyrics, but I don't sing! How can anyone hear my songs if they're not sung? Who can I send my songs to who would listen to them and evaluate them honestly?
Dear Daryl
Yes, I agree a very beneficial article, thank You Daryl!
"Who can I send my songs to who would listen to them and evaluate them honestly?"
Great article with lots of golden nuggets to help young writers become more developed.
I must say that I know for a fact that Daryl Williams is the best songwriter in gospel music.
daryl
I ENJOY READING YOUR ARTICLES ALL THE TIME
Daryl,
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