So you want to know how to write a song about your feelings? Writing about your own emotions can bring up good memories as well as bad ones. Be sure to let yourself feel those emotions not only for the song but to make sure you are healthily doing this vulnerable task.

Once you find the emotions you want to express and turn them into lyrics you are ready to begin the process. Here are the steps to write a song about your feelings:

1. Keep a diary or journal
2. Tell a story
3. Organize sections and create a song structure
   • Verse
   • Pre-Chorus
   • Chorus
   • Bridge

Keep a Diary or Journal

A very efficient way to start is by keeping a diary or journal. By keeping a diary or journal and using it throughout the day you can keep track of all of your feelings and experiences. This method should involve a lot of privacy so keep this in a safe place.

Along with this, just because something is written in your journal or diary doesn’t mean you have to use it. Some experiences and emotions are just too hard and personal to make into lyrics, and that is ok. There are plenty of ways to choose lyrics without making it too personal.

Besides, you want to make general lyrics that anyone can relate to and understand. This will impact your audience more and give more success to your song and how it affects the people listening to it.

If you’re not used to keeping a diary or journal, try using a note-taking app on your phone. I personally really like this approach, as I can write down my feelings at any particular time when I have ideas. I also find organizing the feelings I wrote down throughout the day much faster, as everything is done electronically. You can always copy the notes to your computer if you work faster on a computer later on when you’re writing lyrics.

Tell a Story

Along with using a journal or diary try writing a short story that can help organize your emotions and experiences. This can turn your experiences into something less personal but still capture the raw emotion that you wanted to.

Understandably, some things are too traumatic or personal to tell, not to mention some stories physically just don’t fit or adapt to song lyrics. Just because songwriting should come from a pure place and raw emotion does not mean you have to consent to give away anything about yourself you don’t particularly want to.

You get to choose what goes into your song and what it means for the message and purpose of the song. This is a great perk of being a songwriter that you have full control over your song and how you want it to turn out.

Organize Sections and Create a Song Structure

After having lots of ideas for your song, you may feel a bit overwhelmed. There is an easy solution to this. Break down the song into sections! Here are the most commonly used song sections:

1. Verse
2. Pre-Chorus
3. Chorus
4. Bridge
5. Other Sections

Verse

Verses are usually for explaining the majority of the song, so take advantage of this when writing. You don’t want your audience to be confused by the message or purpose. These lyrics can range to be about circumstances, people, situations, experiences, scenarios, and many other options for your choosing.

Verses commonly tell a story that is completely yours to tell. So make sure to not leave anything out and make a piece of music that can potentially impact not only yourself but many people listening.

Pre-Chorus

Pre-chorus is like the lead up to the main event in the song which is the chorus. This sets it up for an emotional release before the chorus. You can focus more on the emotional aspects of the story instead of the physical aspects. This will give a great lead up to what the main event behind the emotions feels like.

Chord progressions for this part of the song will also most likely change. This is because the chorus will most likely change as well. This is important to keep in mind while finding a chord progression that fits not only your story but your lyrics.

Chorus

The chorus is a huge change in the song emotionally and in rhythm and tempo. This is the part of the song that usually explains and clarifies the story and emotions behind it. This is the part of the song that makes the audience understands, so it is important to take it very seriously.

A confusing chorus can ruin the whole song and the message behind it. There should be a pretty drastic change in the tempo and rhythm of the chorus, which depends on the emotion you are conveying.

Bridge

The bridge is a part of the song that prepares the audience to come back to the chorus. This is usually a narrative style and brings more energy to the song. In this area of the piece of music is important to take time in saying what else you want to say before the ending of the song comes.

It could be almost like a plot twist or just additional emotional experiences or scenarios. It is up to you what you want to use this part in the song to convey to your audience.

Other Sections

There are many other types of sections to add to your song structure. Some examples are: Intro, outro, post-chorus, interlude, rap, break, pause, etc. All of these sections can be rearranged to suit your song. However, if you’re just starting out, I don’t recommend spending too much time on designing your perfect song structure. Instead, focus on the most important sections, namely verse, pre-chorus, chorus and bridge, and make sure you are comfortably on expressing your feelings through those sections.

Once you’re familiar with the common sections, you’ll likely find yourself reaching out to the other sections mentioned above, as the most commonly used sections can no longer paint a complete picture of what you’re trying to achieve.

Conclusion

Songwriting is challenging and that needs to be known before starting this process. Although it can be challenging though it can be extremely rewarding. This is especially true when using your own emotions. Not only can you create a beautiful and powerful piece of music, but you may also find a breakthrough with your emotions and how they impact you.

This can help you with not style as an artist but also your real-life and who you are as a person. There are so many benefits to this process, and you get to choose which ones for you!