Almost everyday, someone visits Lyrical Line and comments, "I'm very talented. I'll be a hit one day. My songs are the best. I just know my song's a sure hit. Tell me what to do next" and my reply is, "Keep writing."

You may ask, "Rob. How can you blindly offer such advice without knowing their experience? How do you know without reading their songs? What qualifications do you have to say 'keep writing' when they *could* be ready?" My answer is simple. "You *could* be ready, but only you and/or your checkbook can answer that." Sure there are professional pitch and critique services to assist you, but how do you know when you are even ready to utilize them?

Someone once told me, "Rob. When you think you're ready, take a look at how many songs you've written and if that number isn't in the triple digits, wait. The demand for songs won't dry up. Don't get in a hurry."

How many times have you written a song that you thought was incredible? You got excited about it. You thought, "Whew. Where did that come from?" Only to look at it a month or two later and think, "Well...verse two needs a little work and the chorus doesn't have the punch I thought it had." This happens to everyone - even the pros.

What that person was really telling me was, "Rob. If you haven't written hundreds upon hundreds of songs, the day you do, you'll look back on this day and realize why you weren't ready because becoming a great songwriting takes time - you mature into a great songwriter. You can't read a few books and discover the silver bullet - songwriters mature like a fine wine."

Of the endless techniques I've learned throughout the years, one has always helped me the most. I've always believed that you gain a better understanding of something by teaching others. In college, my study partner and I would divide a test into half's - he would study for half of the test and I would study for half of the test. Once we had a good understanding of the materials, we would sit down and tutor each other. Through the tutoring process, I would struggle with how to explain it to him and that process helped me grasp a better understanding of the materials. I've never done better as when I used this technique. It forced me to look at the problem from a different perspective.

While there aren't any songwriting tests you're likely to take in the near future, the perfect opportunity to use this technique is to critique songs. Songs on this site. Songs of your co-writer. Songs on the radio - just because they're hits, doesn't mean you can't critique them.

Many people are afraid to critique songs because they fear they aren't experienced enough. If you critique a song on this site, you may not want to send it to the songwriter, but at least critique the song for your own sake and read how others critique songs. Make your own check list of what to look for in a song. Even the process of coming up with a list of criteria will help you. I've produced a check list of sorts on the critique submission page of the Write & Wrong section, but that is only the tip of the ice berg.

While there is no "Write & Wrong" in songwriting, there are certain guidelines you must follow and there are certain basic elements you need. Comparing your songs to the pros is another way to help determine what is "Write & Wrong" in your song.

How many love songs have you written? How many broken heart songs? How many current issues songs? How many songs in AABA form? How many in ABAB form? How many different genres? How many had bridges - how many needed them?

Have you ever sat down with your love song that is almost identical to that hit song of yesterday and looked at what made your song different from that hit song? What angle did they take? What was the emphasis of their song? Did it focus on people? Events? Emotions? Places? Things?

So take a look at some of your older songs and see what you think now. Only you'll know when you're ready. Don't get in a hurry and write, write, write.