Here are a couple of approaches that I use.

1.) I start off as Bob suggests above (write on guitar and just type in the chords) -- but I always use the "Intro" feature of BIAB to create a new 4 to 8 bar intro. I don't always use their suggestions, but it often times picks chords that I never would have thought of (and they sound good) and I then I just might use their choice as an intro (with some tweaking) and as interludes inside the piece. So, I often let BIAB contribute to the composition in this and other ways.

2.) Lots of times, I will have just the lyrics and I go looking for a style and demo that seems to fit. If I find one (and this takes awhile), I will often use a lot of what BIAB gives me -- again making BIAB a partner in the composition process.

I often times don't have a fixed sound that I hear in my head when writing, so I am open to going through some doors that BIAB might open for me.

Kevin

Now at bandcamp: Crows Say Vee-Eh @ bandcamp or soundcloud: Kevin @ soundcloud