Q: hey karly, i wanted to ask about your lyric writing process. i love the way you weave small moments and unassuming images into a meaningful collage. i know you’ve mentioned richard brautigan as one of your influences in this before!
i’m wondering how you go about your writing? does it just flow when you sit down to write? do you pick an image/line/theme and go from there?
lots of love from manchester, uk. wednesday songs mean so much to me and my girl friends over here :)
A: Yooooo the writing process I most suggest is something I stole from Jake which he stole from David Berman. Everyday (or in my case whenever I feel like song writing, usually once a week or so) write 20 lines. They dont all have to be usable or good because once youve done this 5-10 times you can just pick out the best shit and weave it together for a song.
Doing it this way really takes the pressure off yourself to write a complete song in one sitting, and also makes it so you can really hone in every line until they’re all words you’re truly proud to be singing. It takes dedication and patience, but if I’m being honest I think patience is something a lot of songwriters lack. Really sitting with and caring about your words makes all the difference in the quality of the lyrics.
I suggest starting by writing everyday just to build the muscle and then after a while you’ll be able to just sit down and write when you feel “the itch”, which you’ll become sensitive to the longer you write.
As far as writing specifically about memories, the way I do this is by picking one memory I want to talk about and try to write all 20 lines of a sitting about that memory. I write out every possible thing I can remember spanning across all the senses. If it is a painful memory it can often be a painful process to re access that stuff so prepare for that. Usually whats left is a really vivid and visceral description of that event.
Then I’ll go back in and weave in some unrelated lines from other writing sessions that fit the tone to keep it fresh and not suffocate the memory.
I also collect a lot of lines from other books, movies, and stuff I hear my friends say and can weave that in as well when it fits the tone. I’ve found references to be a really good method for listeners to relate and empathize with whatever I’m singing about.
Hope this helps !