How to Use Object Writing to Compose Better Lyrics

Object writing is a piece of writing that describes objects using five physical senses—sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste—and two additional senses called organic sense and kinesthetic sense. Some lyricists use it as a songwriting technique, particularly when recalling sense memories.

Berklee College of Music songwriting professor Pat Pattison pioneered the concept of object writing in his 1995 text Writing Better Lyrics. Pattison encourages his students to generate new song ideas via sense-bound writing that conveys a point of view by describing objects. As you analyze some of your favorite song lyrics from established artists, you may note that some artists use the object writing technique.

To craft song lyrics using object writing, describe objects around you through the prism of seven senses. Those senses are:

1. 1. Sight: Consider how an object looks and what figurative language you can use to describe its appearance.
2. 2. Sound: Music is art through the medium of sound, so focusing on aural characteristics is a worthy songwriting tip.
3. 3. Smell: Often smells evoke nostalgia or memories of specific places. In an object writing exercise, try describing how objects smell.
4. 4. Taste: Like smell, taste lingers in our memories for long periods of time. Creative songwriters might use language related to taste to figuratively describe the subject of a song.
5. 5. Touch: Song lyrics describing texture and temperature can add tactile depth to your songwriting.
6. 6. Organic sense: Organic sense is an awareness of inner bodily functions, like your heartbeat, breathing, and muscle tension. These sensations can be positive, negative, or neutral.
7. 7. Kinesthetic sense: This seventh and final type of sense is a sense of relation between yourself and the world. It has to do with the position and orientation of the body in space.

To try object writing on for size, describe the following objects using at least two physical senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch) and at least one additional sense (organic sense or kinesthetic sense). Spend ten minutes on each object. You may write in full sentences or in the type of fragments often found in poetry or song lyrics.

1. 1. A cooling loaf of bread
2. 2. A cracked glass windowpane
3. 3. A sealed bank vault
4. 4. A deserted downtown street
5. 5. A car barreling down the highway
6. 6. Waves crashing on the beach
7. 7. A porcelain water fountain
8. 8. A vintage guitar amplifier
9. 9. A single ice cube

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