The Organized Songwriter: How to Create Space to Write Your Best Songs - Hardcover

Hawkins, Simon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0995762368 ISBN 13: 9780995762367

Publisher: Great British Book Publishing, London, 2020

Synopsis

Time is short. Ridiculously short. As songwriters, there are a million things that try to take us away from our precious time doing what we love doing - the beautiful craft of songwriting. The Organized Songwriter - How to Create Space to Write Your Best Songs offers fresh insights to help you be more productive. Just like a pro.

Whether we realize it or not, many songwriters have this problem: Not enough time and space. Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

• - You try to sit down to write a cool song but there are a million other things happening around you - family, friends, the dog, and a million other important things that need doing. Somehow you never seem to have the chance to do your best work as a songwriter.
• - You are an incredibly creative person, awash in a sea of paperwork filled with great songs. But you're drowning. And when you need your best ideas, they are lost.
• - You want to be a prolific songwriter but, just when you get the inspiration to write, there's not enough time to finish anything.
• - You have plenty of ideas, but you're lost when it comes to picking the right tools to write like a pro.
• - You have lots of material to take into a co-write, but when you look for a specific idea or lyric in your hook book you just can't find it. The opportunity to write your best ideas is lost.
• - You worry that life is moving way too fast for you to make an impact as a songwriter.

If any of these describe you, you're in good company! Virtually every songwriter I've ever worked with has struggled with at least one of these issues, and every successful songwriter has overcome these obstacles. If you're looking to step up your songwriting by beating these problems, there is one thing you'll need to do: get organized!

In _The Organized Songwriter - How to Create Space to Write Your Best Songs, I give you a series of solutions to these issues and more. This book is filled with well-developed professional processes to keep track of your precious ideas that develop into completed songs. I also provide options for organizing professional tools of the trade as a songwriter as well as ways to prepare yourself to be the best co-writer you can be. Plus I will reveal a second secret weapon for songwriters, and more.

I enjoyed building a foundation of knowledge about the craft from songwriting programs at Berklee College of Music and other sources, but I actually discovered the material for this book afterwards, from my experience as a professional songwriter, writing both on my own and in the writing rooms of Nashville. I actually became a songwriter after several years of working the corporate world, and I learned firsthand that there are many tricks to organizing yourself as a songwriter that are not just helpful, but essential to get signed. I've compiled those tricks into this book so other songwriters can get a jump-start on what I only learned after years of struggle and guesswork.

Whether you've only just discovered the craft of songwriting or you're an experienced songwriter, this book contains insights into how you can become a more productive songwriter. By the end of the book, you'll be able to write like a pro, even if you don't call yourself a pro.

Your craft as a songwriter deserves to be taken to the next level. Let this book help you transform your songwriting by applying the methods here as part of your workflow to take your songs to their ultimate potential. Learn the benefits of being organized and how to manage your songwriting workflow like a pro. Discover these techniques and help grow as a songwriter so you can pursue your ultimate calling.

Be productive. You'll be surprised how much more you will be able to achieve. 

About this title

About the Author

Simon Hawkins is an award-winning songwriter, producer, and Amazon best-selling author, based on the south coast of England. In 2004, Simon became a full-time songwriter and was quickly signed by Universal Music Publishing in Nashville (Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing/Universal CMG), where he has some 200 songs in his catalog. In 2010, he founded his publishing company, Great British Music, which now represents his work. Simon's songs have been recorded by Vince Gill and Sheri Easter ("Livin' in the Rain"), American Idol finalist Mandisa ("Truth About Me"), Abandon ("Known"), Avalon ("Destined"), Gold City ("Never Too Broken") and many others in a range of genres. "Livin' in the Rain" reached #2 on the SoGo charts and was long-listed for a Grammy. In 2012, Mandisa's album "What If We Were Real," which included "Truth About Me," was nominated for a Grammy. "Never Too Broken" reached #1 on the SoGo charts in autumn 2014. Simon also received a Dove nomination for the musical LifeSong: The Musical, written with Sue C Smith. In 2015, Simon's modern hymn "He Is God" won the Integrity Music "Search for a Hymn 2015" competition, which he recorded with Integrity/Thankyou Music. Simon's book Song Maps - A New System to Write Your Best Lyrics is still a #1 best seller on Amazon, internationally. Simon is on the faculty of Write About Jesus, an annual conference based in St Louis, Missouri, that aims to equip and inspire Christian songwriters. He is also part of Harbour Creative, an HTB church plant in Portsmouth, England.

Edition details

• Publisher: Great British Book Publishing, London
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0995762368
• ISBN 13: 9780995762367
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 246