Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Differing Perspectives, Different Stories


This isn't a site strictly for writers. It's a place where people critique song lyrics and interpret them. There are enough cryptic songs out there to fuel speculation and debate on this site, and it's a wonderful place for writers to get an idea of how mere words can be interpreted differently.

Try your hand at it: look for a song, look at its lyrics, and then interpret them. Look for that song on the Song Meanings website, and then see how other people have interpreted the words. Do their interpretations match yours? Do you find yourself going, "Ah!" as you read the different interpretations and discover things that you did not get in your first reading of the song's lyrics?

The Song Meanings site is not meant to be a tutorial on how to write to please all people - but it's a way to see how people have so many different perspectives and opinions. Not everyone is going to understand what you write in the way that you want them to. Moreover, not everyone is going to understand what you write, PERIOD.

You just have to be prepared to face these possibilities as a writer and you can be a better, not to mention stronger writer with this kind of mindset.

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