*negative post spoiler alert*

I'm not a fan of Pat Pattison. While I will certainly concede that some of his techniques are helpful, here's where it breaks down for me....he's not a songwriter, he's an academic/educator. He hasn't been a successful, published songwriter, which in of itself isn't so bad, but IMO he believes that songwriting is a skill that can be taught. Much like, if you want to be an architect? Go to college, work hard to learn all you can and get your degree, and off you go, you're an architect. You could insert doctor, lawyer, engineer, etc.

Songwriting is not a skill, it's a talent. It is certainly a talent than can be improved upon - after 3 1/2 decades of writing for a living, I still try to write better songs, and I believe I improve constantly. But a certain amount of talent is a prerequisite to being any good at it.

I was brought on by a nearby community college to "teach" commercial songwriting, now entering my 2nd year. I can't teach anybody to write a song, and nobody else can. That's pretty much like trying to teach a fish to swim. You either can or you can't. Little bits of craft, shortcuts, workarounds, etc. - that I can share, but I simply reject the notion that just anyone can write songs. It's a running disagreement I have with faculty administration, because (as educators) they simply don't believe my belief to be accurate (although they've yet to provide any evidence to the contrary).

I very well may judge Pattison too harshly, but in my defense, I've just encountered far too many aspiring writers in my career who hang on Pattison's every word as if it were gospel truth or indisputable fact. I believe I mentioned on another thread, I never read a single book about songwriting until 13 years after I had my first song recorded, and then it was only out of curiosity because Jimmy Webb wrote it, and I'm a big fan of his work.

Bottom line is, I guess, if you find something in his (or anyone else's) books that helps you write better, then that's great. I just think he's incredibly overrated.

Yes, I'm a big ol' wet blanket.

http://www.rogerbrownsongs.com
http://www.nashvillesongwriters.com/roger-brown