You and me – we know it! Songwriting is a form of art as much as a form of craft!
You will often hear people say: Don´t wait for inspiration to kick in…write every day. Consistency is key. And while this applies to the craft, it does not apply to the art!

I love the following quote for that reason:

“I don’t force it. If you don’t have an idea and you don’t hear anything going over and over in your head, don’t sit down and try to write a song. You know, go mow the lawn…My songs speak for themselves.“ – Neil Young!

It underlines the importance of having something to say!

So, what´s the way to go for you as a songwriter?

I agree that working on songwriting every day is a great way to improve your craft. So think of the crafty elements in songwriting…this could be “analyzing songs you love”, to improve your understanding of songs, like: “Practicing new guitar licks, picking patterns or rythmns” to be able to come up with new patterns, “practice singing” so you overcome your fears and dare to write what you thought would be too hard to sing, “learn to write lead sheets”, so you can finish your songs, “try playing around with different chord progressions and beats”, to improve your understanding of harmonics.

It also means you should write something everyday, if only to improve your feel for rhymes, poetry and so on.

However, don´t expect to really write a masterpiece everyday…I think the masterpieces are the ones that require inspiration…something that comes to us, if we are attentive…if we listen to our surroundings, live our lives, make experiences and take time to reflect….it´s in the still moments that the important messages and ideas come to mind….and sometimes a great melody comes a long, also!

Bottom line is: Unless you have something important to say, don´t expect to write a great song! Take your songwriting seriously…treat it like someone you love….Don´t just do it as a side job….Invest in the relationship not by stopping by to say hi every day, but by investing your heart!

Hope this helps you find out what works best for you!