How to stay focused on your songwriting chase

Tips & Resources by Brent Baxter, Songwriting Pro on July 29, 2019

If you’re a professional songwriter living in Nashville, it’s pretty easy to keep your head in the game. It’s no sweat to keep your goals in mind because it’s in your face every day. (And in your mailbox with every bill that arrives.)

That’s very much NOT the case if you’re working a regular job in another town. Add to that any family obligations you may have, and it can be pretty easy to stop thinking like a songwriter. One day you might look up and realize it’s been two months or more since you’ve really even picked up the pen or guitar.

Yes, there are natural ebbs and flows to the creative life. And, yes, there are times when family needs will limit your writing time (I couldn’t do any co-writing for about 3 months right after Ruby Jean was born and Emily needed me at home every night). Hey, stuff happens.

But overall, you need to keep your head in the songwriting game if you're pursuing it as a profession. You can’t afford to take months off just because "life got busy.” You have to keep thinking like a songwriter. If you don’t, you’ll look up to find 20 years have passed without many songs being written and without much music business progress being made. And I don’t want that to happen to you.

I want you to keep your head in the game.
I want you to keep focused. And two things can help you do that: appointments and subscriptions.

APPOINTMENTS:

Solo Writing:

Nothing will keep you thinking like a songwriter like actually writing. You and your skills get rusty if you don’t keep the "machinery" up and running. Trouble is, it’s easy to skip out on solo writing in the midst of daily life. So try to have a standing appointment with yourself, even if it’s just once a week. Hopefully, you’ll find other times, too. But if nothing else, you (and your family) know that every Thursday night is your writing time.

But don’t just schedule it. Actually show up, sit down and do the work!

Cowriting:

Still, it’s easy to not show up for solo writing appointments. So try scheduling regular cowriting appointments. You might let yourself down, but you’ll be less likely to bail out on someone else.

Even if you don’t live around many potential cowriters, the internet is a wonderful place to find them. Frettie members meet potential cowriters in our online Co+Writer Cafe' events. Facebook groups such as the Frettie Members Forum, Songwriting Pro Facebook Group and The CLIMB Community are good, non-spammy places to meet potential cowriters. And these days, writers are much more comfortable writing over videoconferencing platforms like Skype and FaceTime. It's something I do on a fairly regular basis.

Cowriting keeps your head in the game more than just during the write itself. You won’t just start thinking about the cowrite as you’re walking in the door of the writer’s room or logging into Skype. You’ll think about it ahead of time. The fact that you have an appointment coming up and a cowriter expecting you to take it seriously will encourage you to spend time gathering ideas, prepping, etc.

Education:

Books, online songwriting courses, and other resources are a great way to keep your dream in front of you. You may be in a season where you don’t have hours of time to sit down and write. Maybe your appointment is just that few minutes you have to read in bed. Well, reading that book (heck, just having it on the nightstand) will keep reminding you that you have a dream to chase. And maybe you need to leave your phone outside your "other office" (the bathroom) so you're more likely to pick up the songwriting book or magazine that you keep in there.

Books and online classes will also give you tools to write better songs and make progress in the music business. And progress makes you hungry for more progress, so you’ll spend more time thinking and working toward that.

Events:

Workshops and other events can be very beneficial. You may find potential cowriters (and friends) at live events, and you’ll leave fired up and motivated. You’ll also leave wiser and with a few more songwriting tools in your tool belt. Plus, you’ll be in the company (in person or online) of other motivated, inspired and inspiring songwriters. Sometimes you just need to know you’re not alone.

If you’re on the market for a cool community with monthly online events at a super-affordable price, this very website, Frettie.com, happens to be one of them.

SUBSCRIPTIONS:

Blogs:

Get informed, educated, entertained and inspired- all from your email inbox. I humbly suggest The Frettie Journal, which you're reading right now, and SongwritingPro.com.  Subscribing will send a few helpful posts directly to your inbox every week. But there are several other good blogs, too.

Podcasts:

If you’re like me, you have more time for listening than you do for reading. And lucky for you, podcasting is exploding. This can turn your daily commute, jog or dog walk into a songwriting and music business workshop and inspiration refill!

There are several good ones, including Bobbycast, And The Writer Is, Made It In Music Podcast, Pitch List, NSAI Coffee Break, Songcraft, and one that I co-host twice a week, “The C.L.I.M.B.” These shows are each a little different, but they each give you a valuable insider’s look at the music business from a songwriter’s perspective.

YouTube (or Vimeo):

YouTube is a huge search engine. Just do a search for “songwriting advice from hit songwriters” or something like that. You’ll have more to look at than you know what to do with. I can’t vouch for how accurate or authoritative everything will be. Actually, I can. Some will be GREAT. And some will be junk. But either way, it’ll keep reminding you that YOU are a songwriter.

Magazines:

Check out American Songwriter, Billboard and Music Row Magazine, among others. Turn the hall bathroom into your own personal “inspiration zone.”

What about you? How do you keep your head in the game? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

As I mentioned before, events are a great way to keep your head in the game. And, boy, does Frettie have some cool events coming up for you! On Tuesday, August 13, we're hosting a “Know The Pro” event with successful independent songplugger, Shane Barrett. Frettie also has a "Know The Pro" event on August 20 with hit music publisher, Tim Hunze of Anthem Entertainment (formerly Ole' Music). This is your chance to hang out online and ask YOUR questions to a real sungplugger and a real music publisher.  Together these pros have secured cuts by artists including George Strait, Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and many, many more!

This is YOUR chance to sit down face-to-face (online) with real-deal music professionals, and I hope you won't let it slip away.

Here's the best part: these events are FREE for Frettie subscribers! So if you're already a Frettie subscriber, you'll receive an invitation to these events. If you are NOT a Frettie subscriber... what are you waiting for? Heck, it's only $5 a month!

CLICK HERE TO GET ALL THE DETAILS AND JOIN FRETTIE AND THESE EVENTS!



God bless,

Brent