Spring 2022 Solo Songwriting Challenge Results

1. Starting the car after rehoming a pet
2. Lost looking for the restaurant before an important first date
3. Walking into a military recruiting office
4. Leaving the last final after struggling through a degree

Try to focus on the moment without going too far into the ‘after’ or even the 'before'. Just stay there, in the feeling; try to act that moment out in your writing. What do they notice? What does their car smell like? Is the road well-paved, or are they driving in DC?

Object writing, of course, might be an interesting tool to use here. But another is time: have you ever taken a bunch of photos that, initially, you overlooked, only to come back later and realize you'd captured a gem waiting to be yanked out?

Try one of these:

• Spend a few days coming up with a bunch of different people/situations, then pick the one you want to write about, or:
• set a timer for fifteen minutes each day for a week and free-write on the situation. Next week, look over your writings
• Or, make up your own. Try to find a way to separate the production of content, in this case details and feelings, 

So, make lots of words then let them breathe a little. Record as many details, ideas you can over a series of days, then whittle down the most important ones for your song. Put yourself in a place of choice rather than a position of having to "generate" when actually writing your song.

Singin’ In My Truck

Date submitted: June 4, 2022 at 8:03 am
By: Chad Shank, northloopsongwriter@gmail.com
Copyright info: Copyright 2022 Chad Shank

Lyrics sheet: https://mnsongwriters.org/wp-content/uploads/formidable/16/Singing-in-My-Truck-Edits.rtf