Mini-Challenge: Collecting Source Titles

Every writer has different strengths when it comes to starting songs.

Some writers can effortlessly pull an entire verse lyric out of thin air, but struggle to find a melody for it. For other writers, writing memorable piano riffs is second nature, but identifying conceptual or lyrical starting points feels like pulling teeth.

Today’s challenge is for the writers who fall under the latter category. And full disclosure, that’s us too. Melody and harmony come fairly easily to us, but where we tend to get stuck is with that age-old question: “What the hell is this song about?!” 

One of our favorite ways of combating that block is to have an ongoing collection of Source Titles.

What is a Source Title, you ask? Well, in our view, there are two different types of song titles: Source Titles and Summary Titles.

Source Titles contain specific information and are very evocative and inspiring on their own. They might include specifics of time, location, or names. They might convey a very deep emotion clearly and without any context needed. Or they might be so quirky and intriguing that the possibilities of what the song could be about seems endless.

Summary Titles, on the other hand, are more general, vague, and may often come to be after writing the song. They are usually taken from a lyric within the song and they’re function is to “sum up” the main message. Hence the name: Summary Title.

Let’s look at a few points of comparison. A good example of a Source Title would be “The House That Built Me,” but if it was a Summary title it would be something like “Home.” Or a Source Title like “thank you, next” could be a summary title like “Next.” You can see that the Source Titles are much more inspiring to use as a starting point. They spark a feeling, a visual and an emotional connection right off the bat. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with the Summary Titles! They’re just less useful as a starting point.

The other wonderful thing about collecting titles like this is that it’s something you can do when you’re not feeling particularly moved to write. If you’re stressed, anxious, or just busy, this is a great mini-challenge to get your writing brain fired up without actually doing any heavy lifting. And then when you do sit down to write, you’ll have plenty of inspiring titles to start with.

So let’s get to our Mini-Challenge: Collecting Source Titles!

The goal of this mini-challenge is to collect 10 Source Titles. Set a timer for 15 minutes and brainstorm Source Titles. You can pull these from conversations you’ve had, events in your life, or just straight out of your imagination. There are also a plethora of places to borrow words and phrases from: novels (just open to a random page), poetry, song lyrics (pick a phrase), news articles, Wikipedia, podcasts, interviews, etc. You can always change a word here or there to make it your own. Don’t be afraid to get super specific! Do your best to get to 10 before the timer goes off. 

Here are a few more examples of Source Titles to give you inspiration:

Holland, 1945
Help I’m Alive
Call Your Girlfriend
Elevator Operator
When The Tequila Runs Out
Lose You To Love Me
Dog Days Are Over
Tears Dry On Their Own
Chasing Pavements

If one of your new Source Titles ignites a creative fire in you, then go write that song! If not, you can tuck these away somewhere (we like to have easy access to our smart phone or in a Google doc) for future use.

We hope you enjoy this mini-challenge! Comment below to let us know how it went for you and we’ll enter you to win 10% off any future workshop or Song Hang.

Happy Writing,
Allie & Bess