How I write a song after midnight

Most of my songs start as a single line I cannot stop saying out loud. I hear it in the shower, I mutter it at red lights, and sooner or later I write it down before it disappears.

Then I build around it:

• Write the chorus first, always
• Say every line out loud until it sounds like talking
• Record a rough take on my phone before I fix a single word

Why night works

The house is quiet and nobody is watching. That is when the honest lines show up, the ones I would never say in daylight. If you write, protect that hour. Turn the notifications off, put the phone face down, and let the first terrible draft happen. The rewrite is where it becomes a song.