What Paul Simon does when he has nothing to write about

Published 2 months ago • 1 min read

Hey Reader,

Benny here from How To Write Songs 👋

A few minutes before filming a recent tutorial, I sat down and asked myself a simple question:

What's really on my mind?

Not ‘writing from a title’. Nothing clever. No wordplay, or fancy chords.

I wrote about the things that had been quietly sitting in the background of my life: worries about the future, family changes, the strange weight of getting older, and watching my children reflect back uncomfortable truths about myself.

None of those ideas felt small.

And that got me thinking about a piece of songwriting advice from Paul Simon that I wish I'd encountered much earlier:

“Start with something true.”

At first, it sounds almost too obvious to be useful. But the more I explored it, the more I realised it offers a surprisingly practical answer to one of the biggest challenges songwriters face:

What should I write about?

In this week's video tutorial, I explore two different meanings of "something true" and why they can lead to stronger song ideas than waiting for inspiration to strike or relying on random prompts.

If you've ever stared at a blank page wondering whether your idea is worth pursuing, I think you'll find this helpful.

👉 Find the tutorial and full article here

Happy songwriting,

Benny

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