PHOTO: JEN SQUIRES PHOTOGRAPHY
WRITING
Lynne Hanson is an award-winning singer/songwriter from Ottawa, ON. Her brand of “porch music with a little red dirt” can turn
on a dime from a sunshine, blue sky ballad to a full-on thunderstorm of gritty Americana swamp from one song to the next. Her
new album Just Words is available now. www.lynnehanson.com.
By Lynne Hanson
Working for It
I
often get asked about my process
for writing songs. Which comes first,
the lyrics or the music? Are the songs
about my own life? How long does it
take me to write a song?
For me, every song really does de-
velop in its own unique way, from that
initial source of inspiration right down
to the amount of time it takes to write.
But the one consistent part of my ap-
proach is that I try and stay committed
to the craft of songwriting and working
to make every song I write the best song
I’ve ever written.
While the general public may think
great songs magically drop from the heav-
ens fully formed into the laps of waiting
songwriters, most of us know this is rarely
the case. For every song like “Yesterday”
that magically appeared to Paul McCart-
ney in a dream, there are countless more
like Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” that can
take years and multiple rewrites before
finally being complete.
Finding Inspiration
I’m a big believer that a songwriter needs
to be ready for inspiration when it hap-
pens, and not the other way around.
When I’m in writing mode, this some-
times means spending a full day in front
of a blank screen or notebook, or staring
out the window watching the snow fall
for hours while I try and come up with
that first line. I’ve spent days playing the
same chord progression or guitar riff
over and over again until that seemingly
impossible-to-corral melody finally re-
vealed itself. I think Nick Cave summed it
up best when he said: “Most people wait
for the muse to turn up. That’s terribly
unreliable. I have to sit down and pursue
58 CANADIAN MUSICIAN
the muse by attempting to work.”
When inspiration does appear, I drop
everything so that idea doesn’t vanish
into the ether. I sometimes feel my muse
has a warped sense of humour, as she
often shows up right before I’m about
to fall asleep, or when there isn’t a pen
or scrap of paper to be found for miles.
By far the most-used application on my
phone is the voice memo app.
Fighting the Block
When the songs are coming fast and
furious it can be exhilarating, but when
the inevitable writer’s block hits, I’ve
learned to be creative with my own
creative process in order to continue to
write new songs. Stepping away from
songwriting can feel like procrastination,
but sometimes this can be a kind of “reset
button” to get the creation machine up
and running again. Reading a book or
going for a hike can not only clear the
mind, it can even be a source of inspi-
ration. But I do find there is a fine line
between gaining a new perspective and
avoiding the task at hand. While I wrote
the title track for my 2014 release River of
Sand after binge-viewing five seasons of
the series Sons of Anarchy in five days, I
wouldn’t recommend it as a go-to meth-
od for increasing your productivity on a
regular basis.
Co-Writing
Co-writing has been another great way
for me to jump-start the creative process.
Whether it’s the pressure to come to a
session prepared that seems to make
ideas appear when I had previously been
drawing a blank, or the fact that input
from another writer can help to finish
a good song idea that has stalled out, it
really can be a case of two heads being
better than one. We only need to look
at the catalogues of songwriting teams
like Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Mick
Jagger and Keith Richards, or Paul Mc-
Cartney and John Lennon for evidence
that there can be gold in co-writing.
Making Time
Finally, the reality of being a full-time
touring songwriter means I don’t always
have the time I’d like to dedicate to my
songwriting. As an independent artist, I
also have to manage the business side
of my career, which at times can seem
like a never-ending to-do list. There’s
always another email to answer, anoth-
er tour that needs booking, or another
grant that needs writing. Taking care of
the day-to-day can result in a lot of time
flying by where I’m not actually creating
new songs, which for me can lead to feel-
ings of artistic frustration, and concern
that I won’t be ready for that recording
session I’ve booked six weeks from now
to make the record I’m supposed to be
touring in Europe the following year
(true story).
I’ve had to learn to make time for
my art, and to be disciplined about this
creative time. This can be as simple as
sitting down to write as soon as I get up
in the morning and before the distrac-
tions start. I’ll turn off my phone and the
wifi on my laptop so I won’t be tempted
to check my email or how many “likes”
my latest social media post has gotten.
Ultimately, it’s about remembering
to prioritize and focusing on the task at
hand to be able to create the best pos-
sible songs that I can.