When I started writing the tunes for what would become “Upswing” I was turning to my friends and asking for writing assignments, anything to guide the direction. Here’s some advice that someday Pat will be able to charge a premium for.

Do a chorus every day for a week, after you finish that week, start writing a verse a day to a previous chorus as well as a new chorus.  Don’t stop until you finish a full verse, even if you don’t love it, you will come up with something better.  At the end of two weeks, you should start to come up with some stuff.
Rule- you are not allowed to use “you” or “me” in songs. Music-  Go to your favorite pre 1990 albums and pick a song that wasn’t a single and rip it off in some way.  Beat or chord changes Take you old ideas and force them into a new beat or melody.  I have three songs on BMAC (Build Me a City) that were written that way!