Pat Pattison

This book approaches songwriting from the perspective of once you have a poorly written song, how to fix it. I haven't seen a lot of books from that perspective and rather like it for that. It is specific to lyrics, and it is a major drudge to read, but there is a LOT of good info in it - the author just isn't great at organizing it. Also delves into rhyme schemes and types with handy charts (I can't be the only person who has forgotten this since high school:), which is super useful. Read show more it, but take notes, especially on his process as he skips around a lot! show less

Pattison is a teacher and very much of the group writing school, but the exercises adapt to the individual. Exhaustive (and exhausting) examination of structure, with a plethora of exercises.