It sounds simple enough, right?  Yet, you would be amazed as to how many
people do not understand what it means to write from the heart. It isn't just
about writing songs about personal experiences, it's about writing ones that
genuinely move people and evoke a certain emotion.  I have read countless
books on songwriting and most of them focused on the author's writing style
based on what has worked for them.  Every writer has their own unique writing
style.  Some choose to write at least one or two songs every single day so that
they are never out of practice while others simply cannot do that, they have to
be inspired by something to write and then when it hits them, the words flow
like magic.  And of course, there are millions of others who fall somewhere in
between.  If you are a writer, I'm sure you know what I mean.  Ask yourself if
you like to write more in the evening or in the morning?  Do you get the best
songs from real life inspirations or from fictitious ones?  Do you find that you have
to write ten average songs to get to one really good one or do you prefer to
concentrate all of your energy on the one good one from the start?  All of these
determine your writing style.  There isn't a "right" or a "wrong" one and there
isn't one that's better than another, it's just a matter of what works best for
you.  My point is that you can take all of those songwriting books and you can
try to adapt the style of the author exactly, but chances are, it won't quite work
for you the same way that it does for them.  By the way, if you're not sure of
what your writing style is yet, that's okay too, you will learn what it is naturally at
your own pace.

Of all the different ones out there, I have yet to read a book on songwriting
that teaches how to write better with your style and after all, that's the one
that really matters, isn't it?  Some of the ones that I have read had some really
helpful tips in them and they gave me some good ideas, but they only told you
half the story in my opinion.  Let me explain:  They will tell you that the best
way to become a better songwriter is to write more.  It's kind of like "Practice,
practice, practice", except in this case, it would be "write, write, write."  While I
do agree that the more you write, the more comfortable you will be with it,
writing is only 50% of songwriting.  That's right, one of the biggest myths about
songwriting is that people always tend to think that they need to focus more on
writing than anything else, and that is where they ignore the other 50%.  

So, what is the other 50%?  In order to become a better songwriter, you have
to concentrate on two things: Writing and Listening.  What many people don't
realize is that listening is just as important as writing because it helps you
understand more about how music works.  Let me break this down for you and
show you an example of what I mean by that.  First, think of your favorite song.  
Now, think of why you like that song so much.  Is it so catchy that you can't
stop singing it?  Does it remind you of a personal experience or a time period in
your life?  Does it motivate you to feel strong and inspired, does it make you feel
like crying, or does it just make you want to dance until your feet fall off?  No
matter what the reason, there is something in that song that causes you to feel
some kind of an emotion.  And, in order to write songs that generate that level
of emotion in the listener, you must first understand why music moves us.       

I'll give you an example:  One of my all time favorite songs is "Livin' On a Prayer"
by BonJovi (written by J.BonJovi, R. Sambora, D.Child).  When that song first
came out, I wanted to hear it over and over again, even though at that point, I
really didn't understand why just yet.  I just knew that there was something
about it that triggered something in me and made me feel energized and
psyched up.  I wanted to sing along with it, tap my foot, run around the living
room pretending I was a rock star, etc.  Then, when I started writing, I went
back to take a closer look at it.  I wanted to figure out what it was exactly about
the song that made me feel that way and why.  So, I asked myself which part of
the song drew me in the most.  The answer- the pre chorus.  When they
started singing "Hold on to what we've we got, it doesn't make a difference if
we make it or not...", it was as if someone turned on a light switch and it took
me to a totally different place.  After figuring that much out, I looked closer at
what was happening there.  They went to a C chord from an E minor (which is
what the verse is primarily made up of).  That didn't seem so unusual, so it had
to be something more.  Then, I listened, this time more carefully to all of the
instruments.  What I discovered was that as soon as it went to the pre chorus,
the keyboard starting playing quarter notes of 'G'.  If you have that song, play it
and you will hear what I am talking about, just listen for the keyboard part.  
Those notes were the ones that caused my emotional response, and thus I
started to slowly understand how music really worked.    

I used my newfound discovery to break it down even further so that I could
incorporate that emotion in my songs, in a slightly different way of course.  
Looking at it closely, the note that was played over and over again on the
keyboards was a 'G'.  That 'G' was the fifth of the chord that started the pre
chorus (the C chord).  So, I always remembered that, and years later, I used a
similar technique in one of my songs, "Just Tell the Truth".  Now, obviously,
"Livin' On a Prayer" is a completely different song, but I was able to use a
technique that I learned by listening carefully.  And the best part is that you can
do that with any song.  Go ahead, try it- Think of a song that moves you, then
concentrate on what specifically it is about that song that evokes your strongest
emotional response, and break it down so that you can figure out what is going
on with every instrument in the song during that part.  Focusing on all the parts
individually will reveal to you what technique is being used.  That is one of the
biggest secrets of songwriting and if you ask me, not enough writers today pay
close enough attention to what makes music work effectively by listening, really
listening.