Alright, a little about me: I studied screenwriting at university, and a lot of the first year of my degree was basically devoted to learning frameworks that demystified screenplays - showing us the mechanism behind the watch face, so to speak. We learnt about the three-act structure, which helped scaffold our stories and dramaturgic principles like Chekhov's gun. It's like getting X-ray goggles for storytelling, which then allows you to reverse engineer what you love and apply it to your own writing. Alright, back to songwriting. I've always loved writing and reading so the actual words, analysing them, isn't a big worry of mine but here's the thing: melody, verse structure, writing something round and complete, has always been an absolute mystery to me. When I come across certain songs, I feel this tug that says, "This is what I want to write," but everything I pull together feels, structurally and melodically, awkward, clunky and uninspired. So, I'm looking for practical advice/resources that demystify songs and songwriting, not broad, attitudinal advice like "free write, put the phone away, show don't tell, make it a habit" (all excellent points, but all things I've heard many times already). Am I alone here or does anyone know what I'm talking about?
Cheers! x
note: I can play the guitar but I learn all of my favourite songs with chord sheets/tabs