Here is some writing advice from Thom Merrilin, a storytelling character from A Memory of Light, book 14 of The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. I put it into a song. Source: https://bookmarketingbestsellers.com/writing-advice-from-the-wheel-of-time-series

Great Ballads lyrics

If you use the words people expectthey grow boredA great ballad needs to be unexpectedNever be expectedNever be expected

When people start to expect youwhen they start to anticipateYour flourishes and your bowsTo look for the ball you had hiddenThrough sleight of handOr to smile before you reachedThe twist line of your tale

When such are the expectationsit is time to pack up your cloakbow once for good measureand stroll awayAfter all, that was whatthey’d least expect you to dowhen all was going well

If you use the words people expectthey grow boredA great ballad needs to be unexpectedNever be expected

A great ballad needs to be unexpectedStroll awayStroll awayStroll awayA great ballad needs to be unexpectedGood-byeGood-bye

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I love how I can transform poetry, my own or someone else’s, into a song using Mureka. Check out this country gospel version of a portion of Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself, where he talks about the origin of all poems (and which I, in turn, made into the origin of all songs.

You can create songs like this with your poetry, fiction, and even nonfiction!

Origin of All Songs Lyrics

Have you reckoned a thousand acres much? have you reckoned the earth much?Have you practiced so long to learn to read?Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?

Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems,You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are millions of suns left,)

You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the spectres in books,You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self.

Stop this day and night with meand you shall possess the origin of all songs,You shall possess the good of the earth and sun.

Stop this day and night with meand you shall possess the origin of all songs,You shall possess the good of the earth and sun.

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Celebrate Father’s Day with this song inspired by Ward Clark’s ode to his father (Real Men, Real Impact: The Essential Role of Fathers in Society — https://redstate.com/wardclark/2026/06/21/real-men-real-impact-the-essential-role-of-fathers-in-society-n2203567).

My Father, My Hero lyrics

Who is my biggest hero?That’s easy. My Dad

My Dad is a rocka good mana great mana man of iron integrityand enormous personal strengthMy Dad is a rock

I strive to live up to himAnd will do so for the rest of my life

As he keeps telling meWork comes firstYou never stop being a parentYou are the prime exampleYou are the one they followYou are the one they love

I strive to live up to my DadAnd will do so for the rest of my life

He is my prime exampleHe is the one I followHe is the one I loveHe is the one I value most

I strive to live up to my DadAnd will do so for the rest of my life

Happy Father’s Day!Happy Father’s Day!

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