A quick note before we get to it—I'm trying something new! In addition to the Weekly Newsletter, I love to send out bite-sized songwriting tips on other days, which I'll be sending out as the Daily(ish) Dispatch.

Alrighty! Let's dive in!

The Secret Hidden in Your Song Title

Derrick, one of our Accelerator songwriters came to a coaching session with a familiar problem:

“I have so many unfinished ideas. I just don’t know how to turn them into complete songs.”

Sound familiar?

Here’s the insight that unlocked everything for him—and it might for you too.

So often, the title (or central hook line) already contains the DNA for the rest of the song.

If you learn how to look closely, it will hand you new verses, new angles, even a bridge.

Take Derrick’s song.

His chorus revolved around the desperate refrain:

“Hello, hello? Are you there?”

The first verse painted a vivid picture of loneliness and exhaustion:

My feet are red and raw
burning on the desert sands
Haven’t seen water in days
I’m on my knees, blood on my hands…

It was powerful, but Derrick was stuck. He didn’t know where to go next.

Revelation #1: Expand the imagery

“Hello, hello? Are you there?” — it sounds like a voice over a radio, or a soldier calling for backup. Suddenly the DNA of the song revealed itself: this wasn’t just a desert image, it was a battle scene. Someone abandoned in the fight.

Now Derrick had a path forward:

• Verse 2 could raise the stakes with warlike imagery—smoke, fire, chaos—and deepen the sense of abandonment.
  When we hear the chorus again, the desperation lands even harder.

Revelation #2: Write the conversation

There was another clue hidden in plain sight.

That chorus line is direct address. It’s spoken to someone. Which means the song is actually a conversation—but up to this point, all we’ve heard is the narrator.

So the next section could change everything:

• Verse 3 or a bridge could let the narrator speak directly to the absent person. Say what needs to be said. Beg. Accuse. Plead.

That shift instantly adds emotional depth and variety, while still tying everything back to the title.

The trick is simple: when you feel stuck, go back to your chorus or title. Ask:

1. What imagery is hiding here?
2. What conversations are implied?

Nine times out of ten, the song is already holding its own solution.

Write for life,

Keppie