Sorry I'm sending this so damn late, I was extremely busy.

Also, if you were talking about just writing the actual music to a song, I don't really know. I'm a beginner. I only have a way to write lyrics. Sorry about that. If that's the case you can ignore this. Wall of text.

As someone who just started, I'm not exactly fucking qualified to give advice, but earlier today I relapsed on several addictions I have, and wrote a song about it. And I have constant, unending writer's block. I absolutely cannot write anything because of how good the music I listen to sounds. Words and instrument alike. It's kinda like envy, I guess. I get to thinking that there can't be any more good music, like what's already been done is the best there'll ever be. Stupid maybe, but I get that feeling a lot. Not to mention the fact that, yes, I hate every line of what I've written so far- I get that feeling too. But I managed. Enough rambling though, even if I'm not qualified I'll still tell you what I did.

I relapsed. On multiple ongoing addictions of mine. Bad addictions, really bad addictions. (Er, don't actually get an addiction and relapse just for this, heh. Just write about something personal- keep writing even if it sucks, mine does, and I finished it. Seriously, even if it gives you a headache, keep doing it.) If you've ever been on withdrawl from something, you know how that feels. For me personally, it makes me angry. Especially when I was clean on all of them for over a month and a half. My record, actually. And because I've been listening to a lot of screamy, grungey, alt rock music recently, I started yelling like some of those bands do. You have to start from something real. Or not if you prefer. Chris Cornell wrote Black Hole Sun without any meaning behind it. He just wanted to make it sound kinda haunting and beautiful and make the words fit.

It has to be real, like you were saying. Something that affects you or something that makes you angry or something you care about. Start with an emotion, and go from there. Sad/depressed. Angry/frustrated. (Godsmack has a song called I Fucking Hate You but, y'know, that's kinda blunt, haha.) Happy/optimistic. And apathetic- there's probably a better example of this.

And just keep working at it- I've started on three so far and all of them are more or less imitations of something somebody else could've easily come up with. I listen to so much music that imitating the theme of a song is easy for me. Copycatting is okay as long as you only use it as a basis. It'll become yours the more you work at it. It also helps immensely if you have a metaphor (especially a cheesy teenagery metaphor) tuned mind. Learn to think like that if you can't already, it helps. It really helps. You know, the kind of thing where "dirty seal" isn't necessarily a representation of a living thing (though it could be), but an image that relates to a certain situation. To me, that phrase sounds like depression. I picture a literal dirty envelope seal closing somebody into a bad day. It sounds a little stpuid saying it, but, y'know, dirty as in confused, dark, sad, etc. A negative word that basically means the same thing as another negative word- it doens't have to be a good metaphor. After all, people interperet lyrics their own way. Show Me How to Live by Audioslave is a good example. Some people think it's about Frankenstein's monster, some people think it's about Jesus. Seal as in sealed into your situation, like you feel trapped.

Or a happier example, like "life note". If you're wondering how I came up with that, I just thought of the opposite of Death Note. Good show. And just from that, an entire song can be pictured. If you think you can't do it, try. Keep trying. Think about what a phrase like that could mean. If you're really stuck look up another band. Doesn't matter what band. Try coming up with lyrics, or a vague shadow of what the lyrics might be, based on the tune of another song, then come back when you have something. What I've done is thought of the style of song a certain band sings, and tried to match it. Alice and Chains and Soundgarden have been the inspiration for my three so far- it's hard to explain, but I thought about how dark some of their songs were and their vocal (and guitar) style, and wrote some stuff I could picture them singing. To do that, get a phrase in your head first. Any phrase, doesn't matter. Like "autumn leaves" or "the window is open". Or even just "windows". Then picture based on the songs that band has already written how they might sing it and what lyrics it might have. It's easier than it sounds, believe me. If it helps, remember phrases like "got me", "has a grip", "are a sign", stuff like that. Listen to songs with those in them for reference. Got me is pretty common. Phrases that basically explain what the thing that came before is doing. So if the first word (whatever or whoever the first word happens to be) is "You", the "got me" would mean that somebody (probably a girl) has the singer doing something. From there, anything. Experiment heavily. "Running out of my mind", "chasing the devil on a dirt road", etc. Literally anything. Can be random if you want. There you go, one line done. Just don't overuse that on every song. Or, at least, don't make it the introduction to every song. That was a big help for me, you should try it if you get the chance.

Back to life note. That could easily be the opposite of a suicide note. The song could be based around how the singer is happy that a loved one didn't end it. Or a narration in thrid person view about that other person's descision not to end it and what they did up until that point. Still kind of a dark example, but hey, I tried, haha. It could be a tune the narrator hears (note in the musical sense) that saves his life, makes him happy, etc.

What also helps is if you start with a title. This at least works for me if I'm stuck since I have a pretty metaphor-tuned mind and come up with a lot of short (usually two word) metaphors in my head a lot. They're almost always ridiculously cheesy or overly teenagery and dramatic, but for all the ones I've turned into songs so far, the lyrics and the overall theme of the song usually don't match what the title originally meant- the metaphor changes most of the time, without changing the words. Like, in "Desert Drought" I wrote, the desert was a metaphor for my head and the drought was the absence of meaningful thought or internal purpose. When I wrote it down, I didn't want it to be as gloomy as some of the other stuff I'd written, so I changed the second half of the metaphor to be the absence of good, non-gloomy ideas for songwriting instead. The lyrics talk about writer's block and mental blocks in general- one of those songs.

Anyway that helps me a lot. I mean, immensely. Anything that's even remotely "title-y" sounding, write it down. And if you have trouble vocalizing, vocalize the title first and literally just fuck around (good advice, right?) until you figure some god awful, terrible lyric- even just one line. And keep writing lines until you have a full song, don't stop or take a break. If you have a question or anything feel free to message me, there was more I was going to say that could potentially help you, but I can't remember all of it right now.

Anyway that's just what helps me and I hope I helped you, even if just a little. I've enjoyed doing it so far and to think you might not be able to at all kinda got me down honestly. It's a good thing, you should do whatever you can to try and do it. Some of the other responses in this post seem pretty helpful actually.

It's not so bad (whichever type of songwriting you're going for) that you'll never, ever be able to do it, period. There's no genetic abnormality or mental issue that's so severe it's unsolvable- not related to something like this, at least.

Good luck! Feel free to message me, and I hope this was helpful to some extent. Cheers.