Q&A: Collaboration

Dear Lis,

My 15 year old daughter is a talented singer/songwriter but I feel her songs need to be stronger.  She’s tried writing with a kid from school but she felt he wasn’t as knowledgeable as she is and that he was stubborn about using his own ideas. How can we find someone to write with her.

Kim

Dear Kim,

It’s hard to find a collaborator because you want someone who is just like you. But of course you aren’t going to find that. You will find someone who has different ideas and probably cares a lot about them. So you butt heads. But that’s part of what collaborating is. She should write with many different writers and try to be open and flexible with them. It’s their creation as well as hers and they want the song to reflect their ideas just like she does. Collaboration will help her stretch beyond what comes naturally to her and explore new territory. Here is a link to a list of songwriting organizations across the country where you can seek out possible writing partners: LearnHowToWriteSongs.com