For the eternal optimist, you are always only one song away from creating a 'hit ', but, as another upcoming and hopeful songwriter, you soon come to realize that to be successful with the craft and business of songwriting, requires discipline, some serious study and commitment to develop this potentially lucrative profession.
So you may well ask, what do I need to know in order to be successful with songwriting? Who can help me? Where do I start? What is the best course to take? What sort of songs should I write? Finding Ideas.
Your subject, of course, is the raw material of songwriting.
To be a creative and successful songwriter requires that you come up with fresh sounding phrases, and develop a particularly strong chorus.
It is the phrase that makes the song more memorable, and the chorus is almost universally acknowledged as "the Hook".
As you set out on the exciting journey as a songwriter, you need to become more aware of the elements within your song that will help to create a 'hit 'song.
It is very important for you to analyse the structure of many popular songs, and to begin to recognize the elements, techniques and content that are often used to create popular and unique songs.
You will find that there are many free online 'video' resources and lectures that have been given on the art and craft of songwriting.
These lectures are well worth listening to and will help fast track your learning from the experts in the industry.
There are also many excellent books on the subject that should be part of your resource library.
As a songwriter, you should always have a pen and paper close at hand, and trust your impulses to write everything and anything you feel inspired to write about.
Consider the line, "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" from one of the greatest singer-songwriters, Bob Dylan...
that's really great advice.
As you will soon appreciate, there is so much to learn about songwriting.
You are about to embark on a very exciting and potentially very lucrative journey.
Constructing a Song.
Every successful song is made up of the powerful melody and an equally strong lyric.
A certain magic happens when those two elements are combined, and it is your responsibility as a songwriter to understand how best to bring those parts together, and be the creator of the magic that becomes a 'hit' song.
The 'crafting' of a good song requires many creative and intuitive skills coming into play...
In this article, we will just touch on the basic forms that you need to be aware of when constructing your song.
Other elements and skills required as a creative songwriter will be covered in further articles.
For the moment however, we will assume that your natural writing abilities and creative feel for music are well developed.
The Form We will now look at the basic format or structure of your new and exciting song.
There are any number of forms and structures that you can create, for the moment, we will look at the song's basic components.
How best to keep your listener interested and enjoying your song...
how best to construct the verses, choruses, bridges and pre-choruses.
The Verse The verse is considered to be the vehicle which conveys the message of the song.
An important aspect of the verse is that it provides a structured 'lead up' to the chorus both lyrically and musically.

• The Lyric will of course change content from verse to verse.
  
• The Melody will essentially be the same with each verse.
  

Pre-Chorus The Pre-Chorus helps create an additional lift and level of interest to keep a song exciting, and delivers a tension prior to the chorus which then gives a great sense of release.
It creates an emotive connection with the hook or chorus.

• The Pre-Chorus directly precedes the chorus and usually precedes each chorus.
  
• Melodies are the same each time.
  Lyrics can be the same or different.
  
• Pre-Chorus, can be a couple of lines but seldom exceed eight bars of music

The Chorus In contemporary songwriting the chorus gives focus to the meaning and emotion of the song, and generally is the catchy and most memorable part of the song...
otherwise known as "The Hook".

• The Melody is the same each time we hear the chorus.
  
• The Song's Title usually appears in the first or last line of the Chorus
• The Lyric is generally the same in each Chorus.
  

The Bridge The Bridge or "middle-eight" is introduced to relieve the boredom that begins to creep into the listener's consciousness after a few verses and choruses.
It is the tool used to create a renewed interest and direction in the song.
The bridge is often instrumental but also offers the opportunity to create some further lyrical content.

• The Melody of the bridge is different from the verse or chorus, and is created to lead back into the verse or chorus.
  
• In most cases the bridge does not contain the title or hook
• It usually only occurs once in a song and is rarely over eight bars in length...
  its main function is to break up the song and create renewed interest.
  

Verse/Chorus Forms There are a number of varieties of this popular form which provides a maximum of repetitive chorus and two or more verses to tell your story.
#1AVerse B Chorus A Verse B Chorus A Verse B Chorus #2 A Verse B Chorus A Verse B Chorus A Bridge B Chorus #3 A Chorus B Verse A Chorus B Verse A Chorus #4 A Verse A Verse B Chorus A Verse B Chorus B Chorus #5 A Verse B Pre-Chorus C Chorus A Verse B Pre-Chorus C Chorus In this article we have only scratched the surface of this wonderful profession.
You can be assured that there is no substitute for some serious study of the craft of song-writing, and in time, it will prove to be worth all the blood sweat and tears that most creative souls have to experience.
All the very best with your song writing and may your wildest dreams be realized.