Posts by Marty Dodson

I am a realist. I don’t spend much time worrying about or even thinking about things I don’t like or can’t change about my reality. Several weeks ago, my oldest daughter got married. I can’t count the people that asked me if I was “OK” or if I was “going to make it”. Here are…

Recently, we’ve had several people write me concerning issues with co-writers. So, I thought I’d remind everyone of a few co-writing etiquette “Do’s and Don’ts”. Co-writing a song with someone enters you into a business relationship with them. Once that song is done, the two (or three, or five) of you have created a legal…

Yesterday morning was one of those “don’t get in the way” moments. Clay had posted that very morning about “Writing The Song In The Room” and I thought of that when my co-writer came in and said “My girlfriend and I just broke up and I’m writing my way through it.” This co-writer and his…

Here are some ways you can work smarter. If you work harder AND smarter than most people, you can be a force to be reckoned with!! 1)Write great ideas. The better your foundation, the better your song. A great idea puts you way ahead from the very beginning. When I started writing, I worked on…

The final mental hurdle for most writers that are chasing that first cut is a tall one. Moving from the idea of trying to write a great song to the idea that they are writing words to put in someone else’s mouth. Writing songs for other artists to sing. In essence, commercial songwriters are speechwriters…

There is a lot of comparison that goes on in the songwriting world. Artists pick this song over the other song. Someone decides that song is better than this song. We all tend to compare our songs to songs on the radio. Or we go to a writer’s night and compare our work to the work of others.…

There have been many days in my writing career when I thought about quitting. The voices in my head have frequently tossed out “I’m not sure you’re good enough” or “The odds are stacked against you”.  Most of those days have followed some sort of big disappointment.  A hold lost.  A cut that was a…