Is it a good thing to write from your own experences?

by Mandy Leigh
(United States)

Is it a good thing to write from your own experiences?

Because I mostly write from my life experiences, or stuff that's happened in my life. I feel that you can't take someone to somewhere, you have never been.


Hi Mandy,

Writing from only your own experiences are can be very powerful but it can be limiting. Most songwriters eventually find they have to move to new ground. It can be a scary thought.

Being a songwriter gives you the authority to make anything up you want in your songs. You can say and do as you like. If you can imagine it, you can write about it. You just have to put yourself and your listeners in shoes that feel real and comfortable.

Every story you tell in a song must work for your listeners. So what you write must feel and sound real to them. It has to connect emotionally and musically with them.

So often what connects the best is writing in a way that puts something that comes from your emotional heart into your song. Finding that special gift that only you have to share with others. Finding your own voice to write from.

But use that to expand what you write about. It's very freeing to write about something you've never considered writing about before. Its not just the content, but the emotional message you give to the content that listeners connect with.

You can also try this. If there's a feeling you don't know how to connect with because you haven't experienced it, write a song about that. Wonder what it feels like to be: in love, divorced, unemployed, hurt, angry etc.

Its ok to have fun and experiment with song content. Just remember the purpose of a song is usually to communicate something with others. Try to do that in a way that is fresh, unique, interesting and emotionally true.

The important thing is to keep writing, writing, writing.

John Cowell
GreatSongWriting.com