Hi,
 
In the past, I have used, for example, a couple of screenplay writing programs, because the format of those things is (sometimes) important, and makes it easier for folks to read in the business.
 
It never sold me anything.
 
All in all, I like those programs, but for me, writing, is an intuitive art, and if the words are there, they are there, and if not ... then they aren't!
 
I am a VISUAL person, thus a word, on top of a note doesn't mean anything ... the note has to speak on its own by the way it is played ... and is the reason why I say that the music has to speakl, not the notes or chords!
 
(Ex: play it with hate, and it sounds different, than playing it softly and with love! ... thus, a song's words would make it different. And likewise, the music flow would tell a different story as well!)

Guitarhacker
(Even MW has a very short list on the word "Orange"...... been there tried that.)

So what do they have for "Purple?"

lawajava
The only thing all this powerful music software can't help with is cranking out meaningful, creative lyrics. Old fashioned elbow grease still applies.

I have not had much luck getting the music software to come up with a really creative melody or harmony either. Am I missing a plugin?

slartabartfast

lawajava
The only thing all this powerful music software can't help with is cranking out meaningful, creative lyrics. Old fashioned elbow grease still applies.

I have not had much luck getting the music software to come up with a really creative melody or harmony either. Am I missing a plugin?

Ask Bapu.  He's got ALL the plugins!

Guitarhacker
...
Of course it can be argued that a good rhyming dictionary book will do the same..... to which I reply, yeah it will, but MW is so much faster. And when writing lyrics, I don't want to be looking up things in a book.
 
http://www.masterwriter.com/  the price keeps coming down over the years,,,,, Membership in BMI qualified one for a nice discount at one time..... maybe still.

Rhymesaurus is free to try and 12.95 to buy. From: http://www.purpleroom.com/ 

You guys do realize that rhyming is optional, ya?
 
Sometimes when you're in the flow
It doesn't matter what words you know
You want to get your point across
That sometimes close is good enough.

+1 Craig. I am all about near rhyming or not rhyming.

Agreed on the non-rhyming aspect.
 
I work a lot with a co-writer who has always written using rhymes, and trying to convince her that we can write without rhymes, especially the newer country and CCM stuff is being written w/o rhymes as they have been used for decades.
 
More then one CCM song that is popular has little or no rhyming patterns to it.

Yep, agreed Herb.  The perfect rhyming and rhyming patterns comes out a little bit like..."Roses are red, violets are blue", or nursery rhymes...in my opinion.  I belong to a CCM forum and I get a lot of those comments.  "What is your rhyming pattern here, I am not seeing one."  "I would change this word, _____ because it does n't rhyme with the verse above."  Some times I will be advised that non rhyming songs just don't work and won't be popular, or that they don't get why I would want to write a song without rhymes or patterns.  I will then tell them to go listen to O' Come All Ye Faithful and let me know what they observe.
 
I actually find it more difficult to not rhyme and make it work.  Basically, the way I write is that if it happens to rhyme or near rhyme, great, but I don't care if it doesn't.  As long as it sounds and sing like it fits.

The one thing I do agree on is this.
 
If you rhyme something in verse one...... make it rhyme in verse two, and three. If there are not rhymes in verse 1, make it the same way in the rest of the song.
 
If you don't follow a certain amount of structure in that regard, I think the song will lose some of it's impact and it appears to "others" that the writer was lazy and didn't take the time to think the lyrics out enough to follow the same pattern through out. How hard it is "not to rhyme" the lyrics.....?  Could be pretty hard actually.