[PaulAds]

I've started wracking my brain for scraps of inspiration for this...14 songs is a tall order!

Surely lots of folks plan ahead or at least have bits of stuff ready to work with?

Anyway, I grabbed my guitar tonight for an hour or so and might have a handful of things I can work with...I have a bit of a plan for lyrics...starting with a title and some building blocks, then nailing down a tune and filling in the blanks. Not the way I usually do things, really...I'm going to have to be much less fussy over these songs, I reckon...or I'll get nothing done.

Got a load of subjects I want to tackle, lyric-wise anyway...

I'm guessing they're all going to be rough demos though...there's not much time to fiddle about...hopefully will have some stuff to work on through the rest of 2017.

[Skub]

What's to stop someone 'cheating' by having the songs prepared before the start,Paul?

[CaliaMoko]

No one checks up on you. Only you will know if you cheat, unless you tell people. NaNoWriMo is the same idea, by the way, for anyone here who is also an aspiring book writer. That takes place in November, during which--in order to win--you must write a book of at least 50,000 words during the month. Unfortunately, November is deer hunting season here. I tried NaNoWriMo one year (got up to around 33,000 words, if I remember correctly) and discovered hunting season and intensive writing do NOT mix. I suppose I could sort of cheat by writing during, say, the 30 days of September or any other 30 days, keeping each day's output in a separate file, and then post them in order during November. Never thought of that before....

[tina m]

What's to stop someone 'cheating' by having the songs prepared before the start,Paul?

theres nothing to stop you doing that & some pathetic people do ...when FAWM starts I guarantee within 2 seconds someone will post a song! ...& some people post work theyve done a year ago in a studio & make out they wrote & recorded it last night!.. but then they forget that soundcloud records the date they originally did it  & so they get exposed as cheats
but then you get others who you think are cheats bcos their songs sound so fabulous ..but then they do one of the hour long skirmishes where the title is only announced at the time it starts & they still come up with the goods!!..in one hour!!
but realy FAWM is what you make it & nothing beats the excitement & the fabulous rush of genuinely delivering 14 new songs out of nowhere ..i have cheated before ..one year I got to 12 & got stuck so I posted 2 old songs  & afterwards I felt crap because id ruined all my sincere hard work at getting to 12,
so if you cheat you dont get anything out of FAWM & you totally miss what its about

the first time I did FAWM I had no idea what I was going to do & it was a absolute blast when I made it to 14 ...the next year I got worried whether I could do it again & I realised that what id had in my head the first year was not nothing but actually years of ideas id never used that id been able to draw on ...so after that I always went with a load of ideas for lyrics/ titles/ chord sequences etc etc  & used it all to make it easier ( bcos make no mistake this is a huge challenge you have to give up sleep & a lot more to complete it) & also to make it worth my while bcos after 7 years of FAWM I do not want to write 14 pieces of crap... I want to use FAWM to produce 14 good rough songs that I can spend the rest of the year polishing

im glad to see youre preparing well for it Paul 

[Wicked Deeds]

No point cheating - It sounds like a great challenge if you can't find the time.  Deadlines are great for developing new ideas and getting things done you have continued success tina. Best Paul

[Skub]

It sounds like one of those things where if you cheat,then you only cheat yourself.

[PaulAds]

Yeah...it seems totally pointless to pass off stuff as "new" when you've had it kicking around for a while...you're only kidding yourself...

[tina m]

No point cheating - It sounds like a great challenge if you can't find the time.  Deadlines are great for developing new ideas and getting things done you have continued success tina. Best Paul

welcome home Paul!

we have at least 3 Pauls now 

[Neil C]

Well my initial impression perhaps akin to a county kid going to the big city for the first time.
You don't know your way around and everyone appears to be very busy and rushing around.
It's a little bit scary at first. Then you panic and think perhaps I should turn around a go home.
But people seem very enthusiastic so I waded in said hi to Tina, Paul and Igg, commented on a couple of lyrics and started to get the lay of the land.
Posted a lyrics wanted thread coz that's my plan to co-write, got some responses and off and running.
 
Neil