First, we broke up into groups of four or five people. I gave each group six pictures to look at. Their task: use one of the pictures to inspire a plot line.
Rogers comments, “The tales of woe, compassion, competition, and longing ranged from:
- “…the streets of urban poverty…”
- “…[a] beaver’s environmental home in the suburbs…”
- “…two women’s drama in a bar…”
- “…a fundraiser finding gold in a wedding band…”
As you can see, they invented several unique and interesting scenarios. Where do you get inspiration for your lyrics? Try this one:
The second task: Come up with song lyric hooks using place names from a city, nation, or continent. It didn’t even have to be a real place. It could be fictional, mythical, or interstellar.
Rodgers says, “People ‘went to town’ on this one:
- “Divine Providence”
- “I’m in a Napa Valley Daze”
- “Betcha Can in Ketchikan”
“Try it and see where it takes you!” (BSW Newsletter January 2000, 1).
The collaborators used their rhyming dictionaries for the third task. I gave them the line, “On a balmy, moonlit shoreline…” Then, they had to come up with a rhyme to complete the line.
Rodger writes, “In sharing, we clarified our understanding of the different kinds of rhymes and discussed the rhythmic accents from the original line” (BSW Newsletter January 2000, 1).
So, where do you get inspiration for your lyrics? Make a challenge for yourself like the ones above that I created for the Collaboration Workshop. Then, it’s just a matter of brainstorming.