Storytellers….REVISITED!
The Wordsmith Writers of Clayton County were happy to have COS Records Recording artist, Swavatar Jack join us on Sunday at Barnes & Noble! It was refreshing to hear a voice regarding a different style of writing…music!
Swavatar Jack started rapping at the age of 15, and more seriously for the past 10 years. What was once poetry in an attempt to woe a girl he liked, turned to lyrics as he developed a style of rapping from artists he admired. I have had the privilege of watching him grow as a lyricist and artist for the past six years as he’s worked with my husband’s production company, 3D Sounds.
What has always impressed me is Swavatar Jack’s ability to hear a melody and write meaningful lyrics in a matter of, what seemed to me to be, minutes. Be it music about partying and living life to it’s fullest, or songs that deal with the trials of life, love and relationships, his inspiration comes from, “My past. My experiences help me put a voice to my music.”
Isn’t that what authors do? We use our past as inspiration for our characters personalities and their stories. And of course we embellish from time to time, because sometimes fiction is wayyyyyy better than the reality! 
When asked how he finds inspiration outside of personal experiences, he said paying attention to what goes on in the world. Politics, the news, and what’s happening in the community are all sources of inspiration for song writing. One of the most powerful references he made was to a song he recently published that focuses on a hot topic: the all too many instances of youth being slain by police. His song, Police Brutality address the topic and pays homage to those who have fallen victim under questionable circumstances.
Next we talked about the challenges. Authors have the use of thousands of words and hundreds of pages in order to develop a story that readers will connect with. It can take weeks or it can take years. Song writers, regardless of their genre, have significantly less words and only a certain amount of bars to tell a story in less than six minutes. Talk about challenging! It takes imagination, creativity, a dictionary, and a thesaurus to get the trick done. Swavatar Jack says it also helps to have a good grasp of the English language. English was his favorite subject in school. Listen to his lyrics and you can tell, he’s got a way of making a few words say so much!
Writers group members jumped at the opportunity to ask questions and were surprised to discover how much writing music and writing novels had in common!
Regardless of word count, novel writing and song writing have one thing in common: the amount of time it takes to hook a reader or listener is key! For authors, we have to hook a reader (or agent) with the first 10 pages. If we fail, months of heard work go down the drain. Song writers have 30 SECONDS to hook a listener. And yes, song writers have to edit their work, too. But as he pointed out, the strongest selling point of a song is not the lyrics, it’s the chorus. (Sounds like our 10 pages, right?) If the chorus sucks, listeners will quickly turn the station. Think about that the next time you hear a song for the first time on the radio!
Did you know song writers have to edit, too? While they don’t pay hundreds of dollars to an editor as we do, they have to trust their ears to know if what they have written makes sense and flows correctly. It also helps to collaborate with other artist who will point out if something needs to be worked on. Sounds a lot like a beta reader, right? Often times a track is recorded, played back, changes made to the lyrics, and rerecorded several times before a song is finished. And again, while we have months to do this, song writers have to do it in a matter of hours or days in order to complete an album by deadline.
In parting, Swavatar Jack gave some very timely advise that is good for any writer, regardless of what genre or medium you write in, “Stand out. Be different. Don’t be afraid to cross the line in order for your voice to be heard.”
Sound advice from an Indie Artist to Indie Authors!
To learn more about Swavatar Jack and his music, visit his website and download his mixtape. Be sure to follow him on Facebook and Twitter, and YouTube, too!
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MJ
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