Study the Great Writers and the Craft of Writing

In 1996 I was doing a hip hop compilation CD. There were 11 MCs and because I value the craft of lyric writing, during the album pre-production stage I decided that we, as a collective, would get together and critique the lyrical content of each song submitted for album consideration. I wanted to ensure quality in content.

Now, two of the MCs had crazy flow but their lyrics fell short of the established standard so after repeated failed attempts to improve their writing I put a spotlight on the primary issue; limited vocabulary. I asked them each a single question which I ask of you as well: as quickly as you can without taking time to think, how many rhymes can you come up with for the word “you”? Try it. Don’t read further until you try this.

How many did you come up with? Neither of the MCs could do more than ten. Now pick up a rhyming dictionary and you will find more than 100 words that rhyme with “you”. Many of these words would inspire whole new ideas, and many of those ideas could be the difference between a great song and just another mediocre one.

Many of the greatest songs were crafted, not just written. Crafting great ideas takes time and effort in thought. As a writer, your greatest asset is a command of words. Your tools as a writer should include a rhyming dictionary, a thesaurus, and works of other writers you admire.

Reading a variety of written works will also inspire ideas. One of the first rhyme writers I loved back in the day was Rakim (very old school.) For R&B it was the writing teams of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and LA & Babyface who were consistently crafting hit after hit through the 1980′s and ’90′s.

Even if you don’t want to be a great lyric writer, (really!?!?) your writing will improve when you write often and study great writers and the craft of writing.

Wisdom from the Grind: Study the great writers and the craft of writing!