I'm not very good at writing rules but I'll take a shot at it.
11. Trust yourself
Pretty simple. If you think something looks bad, then it probably is bad. BE hard on yourself. Know what your style is and go at it. Don't try to copy someone elses style, allow your own style to manifest through your writings. Allow influences to open your creativity... don't allow yourself to "take things" from another artist. By take things I don't mean plagiarize *which you shouldn't do* I mean, don't take their style... it's not YOURS! Trust that you can make something on your own... trust yourself.
12. Experiment
I know this helps me when I'm in a writer's block, which I get... this also kind of goes with Crowquill's "broaden your horizon" statement. Look at music that you just don't hear a lot of... that is culturally different... I really like a group called Ladysmith Black Mambazo... an african choir. Now, I have to translate their stuff - but it really is beautiful and it gets my creative juices flowing like no other. Read/listen to OPERA! Magnificent stuff! A lot of my writings are influenced by part of plots I hear in an opera... better yet, listen to classical music. What does it make you think of? Go at it!
13. DON'T SETTLE
FFS, I have seen many songwriters settle with a line because it fits... or settle with a line because it helps move the story of the lyrics along. If you don't like a line but you like the stuff around it, you need to fix that line, you might need to change the form of your song. Settling drives me nuts. I know songwriters on this forum settle, because you say, "I don't like this line" or "I might need to change this" - if your original post has that sentiment included in it... you need to change the song then. Unless you are asking for help, of course. Every line of your song should be your best work. Every line is like a puzzle piece, and to make that piece fit, it needs to be shaped accordingly. Love your lines.
14. Don't be LAZY
This kind of goes with my above rule... if you need to change your song, just get on with the change. Don't piss and moan because you worked so long on it... don't you want your work to be the best? Do you have an AWESOME line, or stanza that is surrounded by ****e? But you don't want to change the song because, yes, that part is awesome... the whole song needs to be awesome. Don't be afraid to scrap something... you don't have to pay to write new songs... unlike most things, the only thing that limits you from writing is yourself. Otherwise... you are in the business that deals with infinite possiblities. Hurray.
15. Be a gracious critic, recieve criticism with grace.
Self explanatory, but I'll elaborate. Don't go into a thread, or tell a person or whatever... YOU SUCK. Try and help them. If you are too lazy (read rule 14 for this) to help someone, don't write anything at all. Changing someones line for them is generally a no no.... but even I do it sometimes. If you disagree with someones critique... don't be afraid to tell them... on the otherside of that, if someone doesn't agree with you... don't take it to heart, don't stop trying to help them, etc etc. Be a good person. This is kind of like the golden rule, treat others how you wanna be treated and all that jazz.
__________________
|