Saturday, January 23, 2010

It's February Album Writing Month (FAWM)!


Here we go again! It's time to try to write 14 songs (an album's worth) in 28 days!

This'll be my third year participating in FAWM, and I aim to be more successful this year. Okay, it shouldn't be difficult to be MORE successful than I've been in previous years, since my past output was awful. I always have good intentions in the beginning, but I either get sidetracked or discouraged or both.

This year, however, I'm more excited than ever to get started.

The premise of FAWM is to get MOVING! Since one has to write fast in order to complete the challenge, there's no time to agonize over every word; every line. Just write! It forces one to be creative on the fly.

Participants can write complete songs, or simply lyrics, or instrumentals, and they can keep their results private, if they choose (it's not a competition with others; it's a competition with oneself.) However, by sharing their creations with other FAWMers, they receive something really nice, that isn't found often enough on internet sites, and that is POSITIVE feedback. FAWMers are very ENCOURAGING toward their fellow songwriters. That's the part I like the best! Songwriters tend to be an insecure lot, and as for me, I do not willingly share my creations with others; frankly, because I feel that my songs are not GOOD ENOUGH, and I don't want to look like a fool.

FAWM, however, includes songwriters of varying levels of expertise, so I don't feel like an outsider or a wannabe.

Also, their forums are fun, entertaining, and enlightening. There's even a forum for collaborations, if one is into that sort of thing. Oh, and there are (optional) challenges to give those creative juices a nudge.

I was thinking today that if by some miracle, I actually completed the challenge this year, it would be cool to have an actual "album" of my FAWM songs. Unfortunately, all I've got to work with is a microphone and Audacity, so it'd have to be "Shelly's Acoustic Collection". Maybe I'll just make a promo copy for myself!

In summary, if you are a songwriter looking to challenge yourself to write better and write MORE, check out FAWM. It's really a lot of fun.

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