fawmSpring and summer are wonderful seasons for musicians with all the festivals and opportunities to play and hear music. As a musician I enjoy those opportunities to get out and play, yet as a songwriter I must sequester myself away into a song cave to scratch out that next big hit. There is something unnatural about that. However, February is one of those months where Old Man Winter isn’t quite done with us yet and staying in the cave a little longer won’t be so difficult.
Fortunately someone else has discovered the same thing and has done something about it. FAWM is an acronym for February is Album Writing Month and puts out the challenge to the songwriter in all of us. FAWM.ORG is a collaborative community where thousands of musicians of all walks and skill levels attempt to write an album's worth of new music during the month of February.
FAWM is all about personal challenge and downplays songwriting as a competitive sport. The main challenge is to write 14 songs in 28 days. You may choose to share your results or keep your songs to yourself,  however you can count on many FAWM’ers posting songs during the month.
I heard about FAWM from a good friend and fellow songwriter who suggested that I might enjoy this community as a songwriter. I must admit the thought of writing an average of 1 song every other day was a bit daunting at first. Granted, I have written those occasional songs that just roll out on the table all ready to go, but I wasn’t sure I had the stamina to create 14 of those in just 28 days.
Since it was still mid January when I was told about this I began to formulate my plan of attack, as it were.
What would I want to write about?

I started looking for things to write about. I needed subjects with a wide enough variety to keep my interest going all month. I planned out my reading material for the month. So much inspiration comes from knowing what’s going on in the world around us. Then there’s the standard writers’ practice of turning phrases and Met-o-4s.

Where is the music coming from?

Musical inspiration can come in many ways. Since I find I’m most comfortable writing while playing guitar, I let my right hand find the mood of the song. During this first time with FAWM I purchased a partial capo and was experimenting with the unique opportunities it afforded in its use. I find many songs are an outcropping of practicing a technique or just noodling around listening to the dance of chords as they shift and move.

Where do I find the time?

This is the biggest question I needed to answer. Yes, it is a personal commitment that needs to be thought out and discussed before embarking into the FAWM’ers world. It’s good to share your commitment this others, as with other personal challenges and goals. Let them know you are going to write 14 songs in 28 days. You may find you will have a support group albeit with skeptical interest. (“Yeah right, 14 songs in a month? We’ll see…”)

You’re not perfect – get over it!

Richard Thompson said that an important thing for him as a songwriter was to complete every song you start. Whether it gets performed or not is another matter. Songwriting is a learned craft that improves the more you exercise this creative muscle. Give yourself some slack. Don’t allow yourself to be discouraged if your song is not the best one you’ve written. Have confidence in the fact that through this month you will write some songs that will work. This is not a songwriting competition. It is a wonderful opportunity to develop your craft.

My first year as a FAWM’er I did manage to write my 14 songs and spent the next few months refining some of these songs and maybe 3 or 4 have stood the test of time. Within the FAWM community I found a group of like-minded supportive songwriters who inspired me through their songs and their comments about mine.
I would highly recommend participation in this challenge to anyone who enjoys songwriting or would like to learn by doing. Whether you just write lyrics or you write both word and music, you will find a supportive friendly community. It’s a commitment, but who knows where it can take you. I’ll be there working out my 14 songs and look forward to hearing about your experience at FAWM.

Ron Dalton is a performing singer/songwriter and president of Victory Music. He can be contacted through www.rondalton.com

Related Links:
FAWM http://fawm.org/
FAWM Radio http://blogtalkradio.com/fawm