Identify an idea that is important to you, an emotion you want to express or a story you want to tell. Your entire song will grow from this single seed.
Make a list of words and ideas to include in the song. You can refer to this throughout the lyric-writing process.
Express your main idea in a single line. Perhaps you lost a person you love--the first line you pen might be, "I wish you were here with me now." This may become your title, which some songwriters--such as Robin Frederick--suggest as the first step in writing a song.
Turn your first line into a verse, as if writing a poem. Tap your foot as you speak the lyrics to ensure they follow a regular beat, and let the natural rhythm influence your choice of words.
Write a chorus expressing the main idea. The chorus consists of a few lines repeated between each verse.
Write other verses, giving the lyrics a sense of development rather than repeating the same thought several times in different ways. Put yourself in the place of the listener and ask what you think she would like to know next. You miss someone: Who? Why? How can you turn the situation around? Perhaps the feeling of sadness turns into an expression of anger, or maybe despair becomes hope; think of your lyrics like a story that has twists and turns.
Speak your lyrics with meaning to identify the natural music that comes through; even unsung speech has a musical quality, with highs and lows, and variations in pitch, volume and rhythm. As you become more comfortable with the natural musicality of the words, add notes. Improvise boldly, experimenting with different melodies until you find one that fits.
Sit down with your instrument, such as a guitar or piano, and try your melody a few times with different chords. If you don't play an instrument, find a collaborator who can provide a simple harmony while you sing.
Write down your musical ideas as they come to you. If you don't know how to write music notation, just write the names of the chords and perhaps make a voice recording of the melody. If you don't write ideas down straight away, you can easily lose them forever.
Keep refining your musical ideas until you settle on a melody and harmonies. Change lyrics as you compose the music, if necessary. Both music and lyrics should evolve in tandem with one another as your final song takes shape.