how to write a song (by someone who writes songs)

so, many people have been asking me how i write my own music (in case you didn't know, i write my own music), and i have decided to make a post on it. i'm gonna break it down into five steps. also, i'm adding some artsy pictures from my friends' music event last night as well as some other pics i've been taking. alright, on to the steps. 

step 1: 

get a pen you love along with some nice paper, 

or use a typewriter. the point is, it needs to be 

physical and unchangeable, even if you don't 

like the lyrics you come up with at first, having

them there for future reference or even another

song is something that you won't regret, and is

so easy to do. if i need to get some lyrics i have

in my head down quickly, i tend to opt for my

trusty electric typewriter, but if i'm making up

lyrics as i go, i prefer paper and pen. most of 

my songs are in my notebooks, scribbled by 

night, and the next day i put them into docs so

i can share them with a band i like to play with. 

step 2:
decide your theme. use  senses, like
sight and smell, sound, feel, and taste.
some examples: smell of the ozone in
the air, taste of the salt in the wind, etc.
i use this to form what i call my theme,
similar to an instagram theme or
aesthetic. honestly, i could go on and on
about this, but it's not the most important
thing. just something i like to do, it
makes it way easier to put set lists together
that have the same kinds of themes, too,
which is helpful once you start performing
live.

step 3:
choose the genre your song will fall into.
i tend to go for love songs because i'm
a hopeless romantic, but i definitely
go for the folkier side of love songs,
along with occasional pop and sometimes
some completely random indie junk that i
absolutely love. use emotions that you feel,
they will help write the song for you. feeling
down? a great coping mechanism is to write
songs, and they will be some of the best songs
you ever write.

step 4:
ready, set, write! now is the time to let
your creativity flow and have fun. keep
going, write as much as you can think of,
brainstorm ideas, come up with fun memories
or ideas. an easy prompt is to think of things
that would happen on a roadtrip. it's very
versatile, just pick a destination, come up with
what you would do, and write those "memories"
into a song. you don't need to have the song be
about a roadtrip, but using those "memories"
can be really fun and easy :) if you get stuck
on rhymes, go to rhyme zone. this is one of
the resources that has helped me actually finish
my songs, instead of taking months on one song.
try not to listen to music while you do this, i
think it ends in copying to some degree whether
you intend to or not. 

step 5:
last but not least, come up with the tune and chords.
you don't have to play an instrument, you can
screw around on garage band until you come up with
something, but i personally think of certain songs i have
heard and the moments i like best about them musically
then look up those chords. do not copy, but pick and choose
a few memorable chords, then some basic ones. then, figure
out where you want your lyrics to go, and there you have it:
your very own song! i'm not saying that i'm an expert on
songwriting or that this will always work, but this is how i
write songs and i think it tends to be a very good starting place :)
hope you guys have fun with this!