Jeri, Excuse me, I have not read any of the posts after your original. One of the things that opened my eyes about songwriting, or specifically lyric writing is a book by Sheila Davis called [aptly] The Craft of Successful Lyric Writing. Davis has been a professional songwriter, and now teaches songwriting at New York City College, I think. Any of her books on the craft of lyric writing are pretty good and would be worth your money.
Jim