[ATC]

part 2: Simple Exercises To Improve Your Skills

Condense your point into a single word, not necessarily an abstraction like love or regret etc. Suppose your song reminds you of long grained rice, perhaps, whatever random or not so random image you can connect your piece to. Now sit down with a clear head and list the number of thematic jumps you can have with said image of long grained rice, the many things it makes you think of. Obviously a lot of it will be random but your brain generally has a reason to have it come out that way.

Have you played 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon? That is how this is.
Now comes the starting point. Get your first idea/image that's semi-concrete. Put it down. Where do you want to go? Put that down as well. What's in between is the 6 degrees to get there. Once you've got about ten different images worked out, you can begin arranging them in between so you have a general feel. Now flesh it out with sentences, phrases and other songwriting type things. Of course, some of the images may be so brilliant that you want them last. Be flexible enough with that. Obviously, this style is not suited to simple poetry or song but if you practice it, it'll get you used to metaphor and mood and imagery enough to be able to use it anywhere.

The list has been used famously by all sorts of famous writers, poets and songwriters. Obviously you aren't going to be a Ginsberg the first time you use the list but it should help you avoid the cliches.
Suppose I am writing a song on Revenge. I want to start off with the idea 'I wish revenge was an item on a restaurant menu' and I want to end it with 'I peed in your soup'. Or whatever idea.
Now that you've associated revenge with a menu, you might get random thoughts like 'tomato ketchup is good fake blood', 'why does the waitress take so long? Is she getting it up her butt in the backroom?', 'Japanese rice falls from the ceiling like rain', 'my kitchen table has that exact same scar' 'I love you, but I hate you', 'I will die of a cholesterol overdose but not before lightning strikes my pinkie twice' etc. None of these thoughts have obvious connections to each other but they have slight connections to the general theme. Its your job now to place them in order. Number them if you like so it goes
Start-Idea 3-Idea1- Idea 2-Idea 4-Idea 5Idea 6-End.

In this particular order, Japanese rice is vaguely vaguely related but out there, it draws attention, allowing you to go on to the fake blood part, since you're plotting revenge. You can then connect the waitress to your crappy ex and use her as the object of your hate. Now you are free to use the I love you, i hate you chorus that you wanted to use so badly. Then go into that breakdown about how even if you will die of a cholesterol overdose or whatever, it wont be until the day something crazy like lightning strikes you twice, by which time you'll have taken her down, thus proving your superiority over her etc etc etc like all your favorite songs do.

That's how you connect these plotpoints. Shift them around, merge them, mess around with them until they fit your pattern.
That's exercise 1. For the record, it makes a great surrealist drinking game.