Liberal arts professor Pat Pattison talks about the process of writing Songwriting Without Boundaries: A Lyricist’s Guide to Finding Your Voice, which was released on January 9, 2012.
Scott, my editor at Writer’s Digest books, called: “Hey Pat, your second edition of Writing Better Lyrics is really doing great. Can you do a quick follow-up? We’d love to have another book, kind of a companion to Writing Better Lyrics. Whaddya think?”
“Um, let me get back to you on that.”
“Quick follow-up?” That’s the last thing I wanted—to do something quick and have the folks who own Writing Better Lyrics say, “Eh, it’s OK, but I don’t like it as much as Writing Better Lyrics.”
But I did want to do something, however quick or slow. But what? I’d already dealt with structure in The Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure, with rhyme in The Essential Guide to Rhyming, and brainstorming, lyric development, and prosody in Writing Better Lyrics. I wanted to do something that would take me to new places too. That’s one of my hopes in writing a book—to learn something new myself.
Pat Pattison
I am further saddened this week to announce the death of another faculty member, Mirek Kocandrle. Known for his passion for rock and roll, he specialized in the literature and history of the genre. He not only wrote and taught about it, but also developed ensemble curriculum focusing on the music of artists in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He will be greatly missed by his peers and students.
