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Do you write songs (or wish you could)? Join the Hudson Songwriting Circle, a supportive peer mentoring group for songwriters, hosted by Briana Doyle. Participants will engage in lyric writing exercises, songwriting challenges, and share work in progress to get feedback from peers. On the first Sunday of every month, the songwriting group will also host an All-Originals Open mic from 2-4pm (open to anyone who writes their own songs).

Each week from January to June 2025 we will discuss one chapter from the book Writing Better Lyrics by Pat Pattison and work on some related lyric writing exercises. Writing Better Lyrics has been a staple for songwriters for nearly two decades. It provides effective tools for everything from generating ideas, to understanding the form and function of a song, to fine-tuning lyrics. Perfect for new and experienced songwriters alike, this time-tested classic covers the basics in addition to more advanced techniques.

Here is the schedule of topics for January – June 2025:

Finding your unique voice and vision

• Jan 5 – Chapter 1: Object writing introduction
• Jan 12 – Chapter 2: Show before you tell
• Jan 19 – Chapter 3: How to build metaphors
• Jan 26 – Chapter 4: Focusing your lyric ideas & finding fresh rhymes
• Feb 2 – Chapter 5: Avoiding clichés

Writing verses and choruses

• Feb 9 – Chapter 6: Productive repetition to keep listeners interested
• Feb 16 – Chapter 7: Verse development and power positions
• Feb 23 – Chapter 8: Verse continuity
• March 2 – Chapter 9: Chorus continuity

Playing with point of view

• March 9 – Chapter 10: Perspectives
• March 16 – Chapter 11: Point of view (second person)
• March 23 – Chapter 12: Point of view (narrative)
• March 30 – Chapter 13: Dialogue and point of view

Exploring meter and rhythm

• April 6 – Chapter 14: Meter
• April 13 – Chapter 15: Spotlighting with common meter
• April 20 – Chapter 16: Meter (two by two)
• April 27 – Chapter 17: Managing couplets

Understanding lyric structure

• May 4 – Chapter 18: The five elements of lyric structure
• May 11 – Chapter 19: How lyric structure creates motion
• May 18 – Chapter 20: Form follows function
• May 25 – Chapter 21: Balancing stable and unstable lyric sections and rhyme schemes

Playing with song forms

• June 1 – Chapter 22: Song forms (part I)
• June 8 – Chapter 23: Song forms (part II)

Ending writer’s block

• June 15 – Chapter 24: Process
• June 22 – Appendix: Advice on co-writing

Songwriters can also join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hudsonsongwriters