‘‘I found my old journals - there's heaps of great stuff in there. How can I turn them into songs?’’
Imagine one rainy Sunday afternoon; you rediscovered a bunch of your old diaries or journals and you’ve just spent hours re-reading emotional outpourings - deep vents, rants of all sorts, and a stream of illegible cross outs, underlines, and doodles.
The question rises up: can I use some of this angst, and somehow pour it into my songs?
Good news: you probably can! Here are some thoughts on how you might upcycle the past.
Channel your expression
Firstly, this wealth of writing you’ve found is incredibly private. It’s an unleashed form of expression. If it’s from your early years, it forms part of your journey away from childhood. Your present self is meeting a very exposed version of your past self, so be kind!
It may also include material from some sort of crisis later in life - a break up, or a break down, or some other time you were particularly vulnerable. Re-reading that may be hard, so be sure to nurture yourself in the process.
If you’re considering whether you can (or even want to!) use this as raw material for your songwriting, think of how you might fashion something listenable for your audience. ‘You the person in the story’ becomes ‘you the songwriter’ - an artist who can harness deep emotion and present it in relatable ways, forming connections with the people hearing your music.
This process involves some decision-making. Does what you’ve written in diary form contain something that could apply to other people’s experiences, and not just your own?
Draw from experience
Between then and now you’ve likely explored your own artistic practice. You’ll develop your sense of what can create a meaningful song, whereas earlier perhaps you weren’t as engaged or as comfortable digging deep to get the kernel of a strong lyric. What you wrote earlier had no filter. The raw material may contain just the sorts of phrases, images, or topics that could build the core of a strong song.
If re-reading this raw material has piqued your interest now, it could well be an exciting source for new songs. Many artists spend hours wrestling with their ideas just trying to come up with something new, but what if what you were looking for was already under your nose?
Upcycling diary writings or partial songs as prompts or triggers can jump start your creativity. Most ideas will have something in them that could be usable, or at least lead you to a new space in your songwriting.
This isn’t just about saving time. It’s about accessing a flow state fast. Rather than starting with a blank page, using small chunks of songs encourages the potential to develop connections quickly as you reacquaint yourself with rhymes, lines, ideas, or rough recordings from your past.
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Organize your workflow
A brief word on methodology! For upcycling to work, it helps to organize the raw material before looking it over for serious evaluation. As painful as it may seem, realize that the multi-format ‘notebook-hardrive-loose-pieces-of-paper-files-on every-device-you-have storage system’ wastes a ton of time in your review process.
Make ONE folder and get ALL your source data in it so you can access it easily. If you respect the material, a better workflow will evolve between ‘old you’ and ‘current you,’ and you’ll be more likely to sift through past efforts to find the kernels you want to work on.
Use some consistent labeling so you know if your items are the conceptual stuff, riffs or chord progressions, or unfinished songs. If the words are written out by hand, now is the time to type it up. Standardize the lyric format even if it’s only a partial draft, with song title at the top. If you’re just starting this process, check out How To Format Lyrics Like A Pro.
Make very basic demos of songs and any fragments. Use the work tape format that competitions like - clear solo vocal to a click, with a basic harmonic accompaniment on guitar or keys. This is a simple, lo-fi recording of where the material is at now. This gives you a feel for what state the old ‘songlets’ are in and may be a spur to finish something right away.
Don’t rely just on one hard drive. Ever. Put all files in the cloud so they’re backed up, and you can download them from any location and easily share with any co-writers or collaborators. Google Drive, Dropbox, or something similar is helpful.
Listen well and get writing
Once you have your folder all set up, have a listening session to run through it all. Take your time. Some pieces will stand out, ahead of others - start working on those first. Don’t be frightened to cannibalize anything into stronger ideas or drafts. You could also enlist your feedback from others, for an impartial or fresh set of ears on your stash of song ideas.
From there you’ll figure out what to do next!
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Charlotte Yates is an independent New Zealand singer-songwriter with a growing catalogue of seven solo releases and fourteen collaborative projects. She also provides a songwriting coaching service, Songdoctor.
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