Foreword

People ask me all the time, “How did you become a successful writer?” If I were to answer that in the most simple way possible, I’d have to say that it comes down to three things — WORK, honesty and feeling.

I put the word WORK in capital letters to show you just how important this part of the equation is. Every successful songwriter knows that sometimes you write hundreds of songs before you stumble upon anything great, and because of that, WORK in some cases is more important than talent. I wrote for seven years before I made a dollar. And I learned that every bad song you write gets you closer to a good one. As my famous songwriter friend Marti Fredrickson says, “It took me 47 years to write that song.” (By the way, he’s 47; and he co-wrote “Jaded” for Aerosmith, “Sorry” for Buck Cherry, and “Love Remains the Same” for Gavin Rossdale.)

WORK can mean many different things — from the actual creation of the song, to finding the right person to produce or sing it, to networking so that someone in a position to promote it can actually hear it. You may have the best song in your pocket, but if you don’t hit the ground running, it will always just be that — a song in your pocket.

If you want to be a professional songwriter, you should write every day and spend every waking moment finding others who inspire you and are dedicated to a life of music. Every good songwriter I know lives, eats, and breathes music. When they are not engaged in the important task of experiencing life to have something to draw upon, they are honing their craft. A great song is where inspiration meets craft, and craft can be developed only through hard WORK.

If you like a lot vacations, professional songwriting is not for you. If you’re feelings are hurt easily, co-writing is not for you. And if you can’t stand rejection, don’t even think of songwriting as a career. If you think this foreword is harsh, the music business is harsher. It’s my intention to steer you away from this profession now and save you the heartache. I’d rather see you admit to yourself that songwriting is more of a hobby than what you want to do for work.

Now for honesty. Your parents had good reasons for telling you to always be honest. If I had been honest with myself 20 years ago, I probably would not have gone to Duke University to be a lawyer. I got a late start writing songs, and that was only because no one believed in me enough to allow me to record their songs to showcase my voice. At 22, in the middle of the Bronx, in a crappy apartment, against the sound of two barking pit bulls, I penned my first song with Dave Citron called “Show Me.”

It was horrid.

My verses described what I thought some guy was feeling. (I was into him, but he was not into me, by the way.) It was easier to fabricate someone else’s truth than to deal with my own.  

I did not have a handle on my own emotions and, therefore, could not write anything true. It took me years to develop an internal dialogue with myself that I could trust. Hit songwriting is about putting your real personal experiences into melodies and words that are universal and easily digested. You can embellish on your experiences, but there should always be truth at the core. How else would you be able to convey feelings or emotions in a way that the listener could relate? Put your passion for songwriting into exploring your emotions and thoughts. It will be the best therapy you never paid for.

Here comes the part you can’t teach — feeling. When a particular subject or piece of music moves you, makes you cry, and brings you to your knees, open your heart — or the channel, as I call it — and listen. That’s your soul talking to you. And when that happens in combination with your craft, you are on your way to a BIG song. The more feeling you put into a song, the more the listener gets out of it.

My hope for each and every one of you reading this book is that you, too, will experience the joy and healing that songwriting has given to me. And remember, it’s not the money or the hits that should be motivating you — it’s the music!!!!!

GOD SAVE THE MUSIC!!! ROCK ON!

Kara DioGuardi

Grammy-nominated hit songwriter.
Executive VP of Talent/Office of the Chairman, Warner Brothers Records.
Her songs have appeared on over 150 million records.
Over 40 charting radio/retail singles.
Fifteen BMI Pop Awards;
Pop Writer Of The Year in 2007.
Three hundred songs released on major labels; 171 of them on platinum albums.