1. Finish a rough first draft. Sing 'la la' or put in placeholder words where you're stuck, and keep going — you can only fix what exists.
  2. Set a timer — twenty minutes — and call what you have finished when it rings. Come back to it next week.
  3. Start from a title: one phrase that sums the song up, as the first or last line of the chorus.
  4. Borrow a shape: copy the parts and lengths of a song you love, and write your own song into it.
  5. Work in layers: the whole shape first, then the chords, then the melody on 'la', then the words.

Stuck on the first verse? Swap vague lines for one specific moment — or turn it into the chorus and write a new verse. Stuck on the chorus? Say the song's point out loud and use those words. Stuck on the second verse? Move the first verse second and write a new, more specific opener.