Last week I wrote about how so many fantastic musical theatre writers come from the advertising world, and one of the primary reasons why I postulated that they do was because they learned how to write for an audience, instead of just writing for themselves.

Well, advertising ain’t the only training ground for writing for an audience.  You know what another one is?

Journalism.

And guess what this week’s podcast guest did before he started writing lyrics for operas and getting nominated for Tony Awards for his Broadway show?

Michael Korie, the lyricist of Grey Gardens, War Paint, and more, talked about the similarities between writing for the theatre and for the papers, as well as . . .

• Why he does so much research for his shows and why you should too.
• The biggest mistake beginning songwriters make . . . and it’s an easy one to fix.
• Why he never speaks his lyrics out loud when working with a composer on a song.
• Rhyme . . . and the purpose of it, and how to use it for the greatest impact.
• A secret method to making sure a song that you love stays in your show.

Michael is an artisan of words, and the only thing this podcast left me wanting . . . was more musicals with his name on them.

Listen to it on iTunes here. (And if you like the podcast, give it a great review, while you’re there!)

Download it here.