1
What is Pattison's "fix what's broken first" revision protocol?
Read your draft, mark the lines that genuinely don't work, and rewrite ONLY those, don't touch lines that are doing their job. Most amateur revisers either over-polish lines that were already strong (losing their freshness) or shotgun-rewrite the whole verse. Pros isolate the weak link, fix it, and re-read to check that the fix didn't break a neighboring line. The protocol prevents both kinds of revision rot.
2
What is a cliché audit and how do you run one?
List every phrase in your lyric. For each, ask: "Have I heard this phrase in another song? In a movie? On a greeting card?" If yes, mark it cliché, even if you didn't intend to copy. Then choose: rewrite the line with a fresh image (most often the right call), or DOUBLE DOWN by surrounding the cliché with fresh material that recontextualizes it (Taylor Swift and Jason Isbell do this, they make clichés land by earning them). The audit catches what your ear can't hear, because clichés are invisible to writers who've internalized them.
3
What is a syllable economy revision pass?
Count the syllables in every line. Look for lines that are 1-2 syllables longer than they need to be, usually because of filler words ("just", "really", "kind of"), throat-clearing intros ("And I", "But still"), or weak verbs that need an adverb ("walked slowly" → "trudged"). Cutting one syllable per line across a verse can transform conversational mumbling into rhythmic punch. The opposite mistake is also possible, choking a line so tight it sounds telegraphed, so trust the singing-aloud test as the final arbiter.
4
What is a "voice consistency" revision pass?
Read the whole lyric aloud and flag any line that doesn't sound like the same person speaking. If the narrator says "ain't" in verse 1, they can't say "is not" in verse 2. Diction, vocabulary level, and emotional register must stay consistent, or the inconsistency must be deliberate and signaled (a "conversational turn"). Most amateur lyrics fail this pass; pros do it on every draft.
5
What is an "image system" audit?
A revision pass where you list every concrete noun and verb in your lyric, then check that the images cohere. If your song is about a relationship as a sinking ship, every line should pull from boats/water/weather. Mixed image systems ("the ship is sinking and my heart is on fire") dilute emotional power. Decide one dominant image system per song; let others appear only as deliberate contrast.
6
What are Pattison's "boxes" in song development?
Pat Pattison's development tool: treat each section (usually each verse) as a box. Box 1 states the idea; box 2 must go deeper or wider than box 1; box 3 deepens it again toward the payoff. If a later box merely restates an earlier one, the song stalls. Sketch what each box adds before drafting lines. (A different trick, shuffling sections written on index cards to test order, is a sequencing exercise, not Pattison's boxes.)
7
Why revisit songwriting concepts in expanding spirals?
Skills compound when you cycle back to the same concept at increasing depth instead of treating it as one-and-done. First learn what a rhyme is, then rhyme types, then prosodic rhyme selection, then rhyme in the context of full-song prosody. Each pass through the spiral connects the concept to more of your craft.
8
What is the difference between "earned" and "unearned" emotion in a lyric?
Earned emotion comes from specific, concrete details that build toward an emotional payoff. Unearned emotion uses emotional labels without supporting details. "Tears streamed down my face" is less powerful than "The coffee cup she left sits cold beside the sink."
These are knowledge cards from the Songwriting deck. In the daily plan each one comes back as a quiz, spaced over weeks, so it stays known rather than read once.