Assignment: Write about the word “pepper” for 10 minutes.
Dr. Pepper. Mom’s favorite soda. Waco, TX. Wouldn’t you like to be a pepper too? Is that how the jingle went? Football. Hot summer days. Swimming pool in the backyard. Light blue ripples, splish, splash, dangling my feet over the edge. The smell of coconut in the air from Banana Boat sunscreen lathered all over my bikini clad body. Dogs barking. Sparkle. Rascal. I miss you dearly. My first pups. Mrs. Anderson the babysitter. Her dog Candy had puppies, twice! God, I loved my first dog Sparkle! He broke my heart always escaping from the yard, and one day, he never came back home. That uncertainty about whether he was running free or dead on the side of the road gnawed at my soul day and night. Salty tears on my face, audible weeping, the mourning of a confused 8-year-old child. Either way, I guess he got free. I don’t think I have a photo of him. I wish I did. I can see his long snout and floppy ears in my mind. I can see the flowers I tried to grow in the backyard where we played. My mom had a rule: no dogs in the house. I wish I could have had Sparkle in my room, in my bed, and my best friend by my side.
This exercise is from the book Writing Better Lyrics (Second Edition): The Essential Guide to Powerful Songwriting by Pat Pattison. I highly recommend it if you’re wanting to improve your songwriting.
If you’d like more creativity in your life, check out my next workshop The Artist’s Way for 50 and Beyond. It’s a 12-week guided workshop to reignite your creativity later in life because it’s never too late to create!