ALC2011

Martin F's Writing Tips

Last year's winner, Martin F., is back again with a few tips for would-be ALC entrants.

OK, I fancy a go at this ALC lark. But what should I write about? Whatever you want! The trouble is that, as every year passes, there are fewer and fewer "new" subjects in the world. Then again, there's been a whole year of news and events in the 12 months since the last ALC, so let yourself be inspired by them. (That can be risky too, though - just look at all the Paul the Octopus lyrics last year!) Besides, it's not necessarily harmful to "do" a topic that's been done before - last year's winner was far from the first ALC entry to take a friendly swipe at the Greeks, after all. Thinking outside the box is always good. People will generally appreciate a neat twist, something they'd never have thought of before - particularly when it comes to frequently used topics such as food or sex. And if you're new to the contest, do take a look at the last few years of entries, at least - you'll see what's been covered recently, and you might stumble across a bit of inspiration too.

Is it important to be funny? Well, it's not written in the rules that you should be aiming for laughs, but there have been very few "serious" ALC entries over the years. Humour is always good. Besides, "gently taking the piss out of stuff" is written in the DNA of ESC Nation. :-) I think the important distinction to make here is between "fun" and "funny" - the most successful alternative lyrics aren't necessarily the ones that make people laugh out loud (though that's obviously a bonus), but the ones that are simply fun for people to sing along with, through a combination of the humorous content but also the vocabulary used, intelligent or quirky rhymes, the way it all fits with the original melody, and so on.

Ah. So how closely do my lyrics need to stick to the original? An age-old question, and one to which there's no conclusive answer! As you'll see when people start posting their reviews on the MB, there are some Syllable/Stress Nazis out there - I can certainly be one at times - but most people are willing to turn a blind eye to the occasional dropped syllable or awkwardly stressed word as long as it doesn't keep happening and the whole thing remains broadly "singable" (particularly if it's a good lyric in the first place!). Obviously, though, if the line you come up with for "I will be popular" is "I have a massive cock wedged firmly up my arse" then you should probably consider a rewrite. For all sorts of reasons.

I'm running out of words/rhymes/ideas. Help! Thesaurus.com, RhymeZone and Wikipedia are your friends. Originality, variety and unusual word choices tend to go down well as long as they're not too contrived. And there's no point in having resources out there if you don't use 'em!

This is starting to sound pretty complicated... Ah, don't worry. The main thing is to come up with an alternative lyric that you like and enjoy - the whole point is that it's a friendly competition that anyone can take part in. So these tips are precisely that, advice rather than hard-and-fast rules!

OK, I'm done! What now? Make sure to have one last singalong with your lyrics to make sure that they fit and flow as well as you'd like them to - if you struggle to sing them, then others certainly will. Other than that, there's little more to do than consult Harrow's rules page and send him what he wants in good time for the deadline! And the very biggest tip I can give you: don't win two years in a row, or you'll end up having to rewrite your writing tips from the previous year despite having pretty much nothing new to say. :-) Good luck and enjoy the contest!

 

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ALC2011