The process isn't all random inspiration though. The song has to start with a good concept. "Only By Your Grace" was written specifically at a time when our church was re-orienting philosophies of how to do ministry, specifically in the seeker sensitive/vs. deep "centered" teaching. Anytime the church takes a step back to evaluate their effectiveness, the repercussions spread throughout the rest of the body, sometimes in the case of the music. We had been focusing on the cool factor, being relevant to the world, and even using a bunch of songs off the radio to make them feel comfortable. Not that there's anything wrong with this approach, but at the time we felt we needed to back off a little and let the aroma of the Gospel speak for itself. So when Katrina and I sat down to write the song, it was natural to use a topic the church was currently going through, coming back to the basics - God is the one that allows our next breath, and we are entirely reliant on him for anything good.
I had a chord progression I had been dinking around with, Katrina adapted it to the keyboard. We switched keys a few times and couldn't come up with lyrics, so we put away the instruments and dove into the Bible, looking through concepts about finding our satisfaction in God. The Bible is FULL of material for songwriters writing songs for the church - USE IT! Once the lyrics started coming, I wandered around with my guitar singing a few lines we had come up with, while Katrina "scribed," and came up with more on her own.
When you're co-writing, there's a self-conscious temptation to try to have a finished concept or line in place before you speak or sing it. Don't worry about that - in fact, you've got to let go completely and allow for the silly, the mundane, the cliché to come out - somewhere in all of it is the meat of what you're looking for. Write it ALL down and then come back, read through it, sing through it, and see what pops out. This is the hardest point, where most people give up and move on, settle for mediocrity, or just switch into a big jam session and accomplish nothing. Push through because this is the brainstorm stage, the draft stage - 90% of the work is at this point. Be willing to throw things out like chords, melodies, lyrics - really you'll only use about 10% of what you come up with in the end, but it'll be GOOD! Don't actually throw the non-used material away - whole songs might grow out of these pieces!
One thing to keep in mind when co-writing is that you must be willing to give. Each of you should have veto power. I suppose this is true in every aspect of life, but in the creative process, you must be willing to totally give up that super cool melody, lyric, or progression you just came up with. Be gracious, but keep your standards high - if you both don't agree at a certain point, it could very well be that something isn't quite right with it, and another solution is better. I've tried writing with many people, and this is usually the downfall point - someone doesn't agree, but the other person won't give up their "pet concept." Frustration is the only result in these impasse situations.
Immediately after writing a song I record it. I've used garageband, protools, and even the voice recorder on my cell phone in a pinch. Write down the lyrics on one page with the chords so you have them later. Otherwise, you'll forget them completely! The recording doesn't have to be perfect - it's just for reference later.
And later . . . find someone you trust and play the song for them. Some people just affirm all the time in the name of being encouraging, which isn't very useful. Find someone that's willing to graciously pick your concept apart as an outside observer. This can be a great filter in the final tweaking process.
~Travis
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I've been told at multiple conferences and by multiple books that writing music with someone else is absolutely the only way to do it. I really hated that idea for a long time. I had the understanding that good songwriters don't need help from another writer, and there are those exceptions out there. From time to time, I can stumble onto something pretty good on my own. But for the most part, I really agree now that joining forces with someone else is critical in the development of a songwriter.
I see songwriters go through stages much like I did, and it goes something like this:
They have a desire to write music.
They can grasp the basic structure of most songs.
They begin to write songs similar to the ones they admire.
They experiment with non traditional structures. (i.e. no choruses, long instrumentals, key changes)
They eventually come back to writing simpler songs.
They begin to understand where their weaknesses are.
They collaborate with someone else.
I realized my weaknesses about 5 years ago. I struggle to write meaningful worship lyrics and my chord progressions were predictable. Travis, being rooted in theology and having a certain mastery of his instrument, was a perfect compliment to my ability to write melodies and arrange and edit songs. I have attempted to co-write with about 16 people to date. It is a very difficult thing to do because there has to be a certain level of trust and humility in both people as well as a lack of any expectation that you will be able to produce anything that day. Travis and I had songwriting sessions that really just ended up with us dialoging about music and not creating a song. We have some half-finished songs that were beginning to feel forced and we couldn't keep going. I think a lot of people get discouraged when they cannot produce a killer song at every session, when really, God may just want you to have to rely on Him more throughout the process. The reason that writing with Travis was such a fruitful endeavor was simply that we had a good understanding of how the other person functions, what our own strengths and weaknesses were, and we weren't afraid to disagree.
Travis and I are VERY different people and we are often on two separate wavelengths when it comes to a certain topic. However, we have an understanding that we both will be open to the other person and not get offended when our ideas get thrown out. We had to stop attaching ourselves to every "brilliant" lyric and hook we suggested. If Travis didn't like my idea, we had to move on to a new one. If I felt like we were settling, we would scrap the line and start over. Not to say we didn't have our share of arguments about theology or melodies or how high the men in the church have to sing, but more often than not, we learned to pick our battles.
In many of my other co-writing sessions, I felt like I was being pushed to settle for the sake of finishing a song. Sometimes I felt like I was running the show or had no creative voice at all. If you are new to co-writing and you are about to sit down and give it a shot, have a conversation with the other person about the realities of who you both are as writers. It is okay to lay all your cards on the table and say, "I can write really great hooks and melodies, but I struggle with lyrics." Very few people are great as both melody writers and lyricists. Obviously you should strive to strengthen that area of weakness by practicing it more often and studying it, but you should have a firm understanding of where God has placed your natural abilities. It has only helped me as a writer to understand that there are some aspects of composing a song that don't come naturally to me. For so long, I would settle for mediocre lyrics as long as I had a great hook. Writing with Travis has made me realize that though it takes more effort and energy and time, crafting a great lyric is worth the struggle and the wait.
Basically, the benefits of co-writing are above and beyond what most writers could imagine. After 5 years of writing with Travis, we are both much stronger at our craft, better versed in worship and what the church needs to sing, and more able to encourage other writers to be excellent and not settle. The experience alone has forced us to let go of our pride, surrender our time, and grow as worshippers.
~Katrina
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