I’m a creature of habit. When I figure out my favorite item at a restaurant, I get the same thing almost every time I go. I keep rewatching my favorite movies and TV shows and rarely try anything new (except Stranger Things, duh). I haven’t put new music on my ipod in over five years.
But recently, I gave in and tried something new. I was writing a tedious, 60-some-page technical report at work, I was glued to my computer eight hours a day, and I was tired of listening to the same playlist over and over on YouTube. I decided to try Pandora.
I plugged in one of my favorite songs, created a channel, and…quickly became addicted. Not just because, as it turns out, there’s a lot of music out right now that I love—but because these new songs helped me grow as a writer.
For me, lyrics are the most important part of a song. A catchy tune and powerhouse vocals help, but they’re not enough to save a bunch of tired, clichéd, or just plain dumb lyrics. (Rebecca’s Black’s Friday, anyone? One of the lines is “Gotta get my bowl, gotta have cereal.” I wish I was kidding.) The qualities I look for in song lyrics are similar to what I look for in the first pages of a book: Plenty of showing, not too much telling. Subtle emotions, rather than melodramatic clunkers. Imaginative prose. Evocative imagery. Startling similes and metaphors. Fresh twists on familiar ideas.
Many of the songs I’ve heard on Pandora contain some brilliant songwriting, gems of description, or unexpected similes and metaphors—things that make me look at the world in a new way. The titular extended metaphor in Taylor Swift’s Getaway Car. Ruth B.’s emotional fairy tale references in Lost Boy. The poetic imagery of Ed Sheeran’s All of the Stars.
Some of these more elusive elements of writing are the most difficult to learn. There are hundreds of books on writing dialogue, but only a handful on writing metaphors. Why? Because these writing skills are near-impossible to teach. The best way to hone them is to read a lot of great fiction, see how other writers do it, and gradually absorb their methods. But you don’t just have to read fiction to develop these skills—you can also listen to it in the form of music. Sure, songs can’t teach you much about plotting a novel or developing a character arc. But they will teach you the fine details: the rhythm and flow of language, the art of description, the use of rhetorical devices.
My advice to writers is: listen to more music. And not just the songs you know by heart—get exposure to a variety of new music, and see what ideas it sparks. If a song particularly moves you, study the lyrics to see how the writer tugs at your heartstrings. If a line shines with description or provides a striking and unexpected comparison, think about why it works. It’ll unlock your own creativity, and it’ll make you a better writer.