Tips I've Learned for Writing Songs That Cut Through on TikTok/Reels…

I know firsthand there's nothing more frustrating than writing a song, putting it out online, and then having no one really care or take notice. As a full-time songwriter, I’ve recently had some success helping artists get their songs to actually translate across short-form video content—how to make people care about what you’re writing. A couple of artists I’ve worked with even managed a 10,000 presave campaign in just a few weeks purely from showing their songs online.

The three main parts you NEED to connect together are:

1. Great Storytelling:
We all know humans love stories, right? If you write a song that tells a good story, I’ll want to stick around to hear how it ends. But if we’re talking about a verse, you've got maybe 4-8 lines to hook me. How much can you tell me in such a short time? That’s the key. Think Hemingway’s one-sentence story: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." It says so much in just a few words.

2. Short Attention Spans:
This point goes hand in hand with the first one (seriously, it’s IMPERATIVE). Your first line has to hook me into the second, then the third, and so on. If they don’t do that in order, I’ve already scrolled past, and even if your third line is absolute fire, I’m long gone. A great example of this is Halsey’s "Bad at Love":

"Got a boy back home in Michigan
And it tastes like Jack when I'm kissing him
So I told him that I never really liked his friends
Now he's gone and he's calling me a bitch again"

3. Remove Your Poetic Prejudice:
I see this way too often. Artists write something super poetic and argue 'til they're blue in the face about what it’s supposed to mean, while I'm just sitting here like, "Yeah, but I don’t get it." I get that not every song needs to be literal, but if your poetic tropes make the song sit in a grey area that doesn’t hit me, it’s going to be a miss.

There’s a bunch more tips and rules I’ve picked up along the way that I’ve put together in a Google Doc. DM me if you’re interested!