Co-writer Characteristic #7 of 10: Preparedness

Know yourself. It's that easy, and it's that complicated.

Knowing yourself allows you to best be prepared to show up and create with another person. Not only will you have a clear view of your own strengths and weaknesses, but you'll sense how your unique creative vision and voice can blend with a collaborator's. You will be able to mutually enhance the song by entering into each other's creative space.

Being prepared includes: 

• Getting a good night's sleep 
• Keeping an organized schedule 
• Researching your co-writer's style and voice 
• Keeping a list of melody and lyric ideas to use as a launching point for a song 
• Showing up on time 
• And the list goes on... 

The most prepared songwriter will write the best song possible. 

Keep writing (and preparing),

Ben

------ Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Co-writer Characteristic #6 of 10: Teachability

Brittany's grandparents have always been a great example of what it means to be teachable. They are in the 80s and are still open to learning new things every day. The key to their teachability is their openness to things that don't necessarily fit into their paradigm, an uncommon trait for people their age who have "seen it all."

One of my favorite lines from any song is in "What a Wonderful World." I love hearing Louis Armstrong sing these words:

I hear babies cry
I watch them grow
They'll learn much more
Than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world



This is what it means for me to be teachable: understand that I don't understand everything, and that my lack of understanding is something wonderful. I mean, who wants to live in a world without mystery or wonder?

Keep writing (and being teachable),

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Co-writer Characteristic #5 of 10: Discipline

Discipline sounds scary. Maybe it reminds you of getting being sent to the principal's office. Or maybe it sounds restricting. Who wants to do something they don't feel like doing?

Once you get into the habit of writing, whether alone or with another person, you will inevitably encounter days where you wake up feeling like you don't want to create.

In that moment, you have an opportunity to either follow your feeling (and cancel your co-write) or to show up. In almost every situation, the right choice is to show up. You may feel uninspired until you sit down at the piano; until you talk to your co-writer; until you play around with two dead-end ideas.

Dictionary.com defines discipline as an "activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training."

It reminds me of high school basketball off-season, where we were encouraged to attend optional weight-training sessions at 8:00am on Summer mornings. Who wakes up wanting to go subject themselves to something they don't feel like doing? The dedicated. Be dedicated, and don't be afraid to show up even when you don't feel like showing up.

Keep writing (and showing up),

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Co-writer Characteristic #4 of 10: Patience

Patience is kind of boring. I want to write a song in the morning, email it to my publisher in the afternoon and hear the song on the radio by evening. That, of course, isn't how it works. "Hurry up and wait" is the saying on Music Row.

To a farmer, a watched seed never grows. It's not our job as songwriters to mull over every single detail pertaining to where our song ends up after it leaves the pencil and hits the pad. There are just too many factors that go into the journey of a song to easily understand how to make a tangible difference in how well a song does.

My friend Cliff Goldmacher says it well in his recent post. Read it on BMI's website here.

Keep writing,

Ben

------ Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Co-writer Characteristic #3 of 10: Gracefulness

Sometimes it's hard to stand up for what you believe. Occasionally one of my co-writers suggests a line containing vulgarities. One thing I always strive to do is create art that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Usually family-friendly songs aren't vulgar. So what options do I have in that moment?

1. Tell them their idea stinks.

2. Ignore them.

3. Offer a better solution.

If I truly believe that great art doesn't need to stand on the crutches of vulgarity, I should be able to come up with a better alternative line every time. Telling them their idea was bad or just ignoring them is in no way honoring, but acknowledging their idea and gently adjusting it is a way to make them feel valued and understood.

In my experience, most writers admit they don't really want to be vulgar anyway, which leads me to believe they are trying to appease someone else's expectations rather than their own. A good collaborator will try to speak 100% truth in 100% grace at all times.

Keep writing (and speaking truth gracefully),

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Co-writer Characteristic #2 of 10: Servant Attitude

Congratulations, David & Laura!

It's hard to serve someone or something other than myself, but I believe it's essential for a songwriter's growth. Serve the song first, then the collaborator/publisher/label/fans/spouse second.

Serving the song involves a willingness to get rid of your favorite line if it's for the good of the entire song. Serving the co-writer involves a willingness to follow them down a path you may have never gone down before. Interestingly enough, it can also mean a willingness to lead the other writer down a path they have never been down. It is possible to serve and lead at the same time.

In serving others, we are actually serving ourselves. And this isn't necessarily selfishness. By focusing on others first we are no longer holding so tightly to what we think to be right and true that we miss what is actually right and true.

Keep writing (and serving),

Ben

Co-writer Characteristic #1 of 10: Humility

This is the first in a series of ten posts about the characteristics of a good co-writer. Though things like humility, discipline and joyfulness may seem to have little to do with creating music, they has everything to do with working well with others. The first characteristic of a successful co-writer is humility.

A practiced songwriter is a humble songwriter.

The reality is that 95% of a professional writer's work usually has the lifetime of a helium balloon. It may stay afloat for a few days, but it gradually loses its air. Most of the time we don't get much recognition for the hard work we do. That's humbling.

Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!