I have a file containing poetry I have written over my lifetime from about the age of 12 to now (30+ years). Until 2 years ago I believed that I could not write songs 'cos I couldn't do the music bit. Someone told me the easiest way to write a song is to take a song you know, change the words, then change the tune... I tried this and was very pleased with the result, however the next song just happened, I was reading a book about fishing traditions in Cornwall and this tune came to me, I sang it into my trusty tape recorder and then wrote the words to fit the tune. The next song was about a matter that stirred me to write a poem from the heart, I then put a tune to it. Recently, I wrote a tribute to a friend, the chorus I am very happy with, but I feel that the verse is partly plagirised from another song, and no matter how I try I keep going back and am not happy. I therefore conclude that there are no hard and fast good ways to write a song, but I never go anywhere without my tape recorder and find that most of my best song tunes come to me on long car journeys! Best of luck all you composers, and like I've said before, the test of whether you have written a REALLY GREAT SONG is whether it is still being sung in 50 years time! Cheers, Lucy