Top Three Things I Learned At The WriteGirl SongWriting Workshop

by Reina E., age 17

• Though I have fallen more in love with music as time has passed, I never truly knew the components of songs. That’s important in music, so I was happy to learn the parts of a song, such as the chorus, bridge, and verse. With these necessary tools, I can only hope that I will write more songs in the near future. Alas, my words and music can create the perfect marriage.

• Another thing I learned was that writing a song is something I have to do in the moment, so I can put all that emotion into that song—almost like preserving my feelings into music. Music, in other words, can be my museum of memories. And people will be better able to feel what I feel.

• Another big idea I absorbed in this workshop was to possibly put an extended, underlying metaphor into a song. When we listened to Sia’s song, “Chandelier,” I just followed along at first. It wasn’t until our guest Michelle Lewis explained what the song actually meant that I realized that a metaphor was definitely the best way for me to write my song. Her song says, “party girls don’t get hurt… I’m going to swing from the chandelier.” It means as long as she hangs on and doesn’t look down she doesn’t have to look at her true problems. The metaphor idea reminded me of what loveliness music has in it.

One of the most important things I took from this workshop is that I need to write from my experience—and about the things I care about most. If I write about things that are close to my heart, I can share what I feel and think with people, and I can do this on a more personal level. And that is what I love about writing to begin with—using words to communicate what I feel, and touching others with those words. This is what is so beautiful about writing.

This workshop taught me things that I will carry with me, so my writing will only get better.