"There is something about the power of two minds working on the same project that makes it more powerful"

Phillip from Tanzania, Africa contacted me through my website Corey Stewart Online and asked me how he could go about finding a co-writer.
The simple answer to the question would be "just ask" but the art is finding that certain songwriting 'someone' to ask.

However, Phillip's question came to me at the best possible time.

Recently, I have been making a real effort to collaborate with other songwriters and I am really starting to enjoy the fruits of letting go of my own ideas and sharing them with other talented people.

Phillip's question made me think back to when I first started writing songs (my first song was written at 13 and I was writing stories and poetry way before that). In those days I had been co-writing a lot and even though it was mainly out of necessity I had no trouble finding someone to give me a hand.

Now, getting back to the question of "how do I find a co-writer?"

Well, it all comes down to how good are you at networking and communicating with other songwriters, musicians and related organisations. Here are some suggestions to get you started.

1. Ask any friends that play an instrument or are good with words (or both).

Let them know that you are writing songs and you would like them to work with you.

Normally if you mention to your friends that you are writing songs their answer is most likely to be "hey, that's really cool" so the possibility of rejection will be minimal. Your friend doesnt need to play or be good with words. If you are both starting out then team up and learn together and from each other

That's what I did. I had a mate who taught me my first chords on a guitar (I think it was an A chord) and we started jamming and all of a sudden we were writing songs. The more chords we learnt and the more knowledge we gained we put it all into our songwriting. We would spend hours on it.

I still remember those days very fondly (I have them on tape too) we had a lot of fun.

2. Belong to a songwriting organisation.

Besides asking your friends, the best way to find a co-writer is to associate yourself with other songwriters that are of a similar standard and are of similar experience to you. Where do you find these people? At your local songwriting organisation.

I can't stress enough the importance of belonging to a songwritng organisation to your growth as a songwriter. You will meet new people and new networks, you get an opportunity to perform your songs (if you are a singer/songwriter) and get them critiqued as well.

However, the most important function of a songwriting organisation is to bring songwriters together.

The organisation that I belong to SCALA is based in Adelaide, South Australia but it sevices a membership that spreads all over the world. If there is a local organisation near you then join it and start networking.

Simple as that really.

3. Use songwriting forums/newsgroups and message boards.

You have heard me say it before (and I will say it a million times more I'm sure) that the internet is the best networking and researching tool ever.

If you are having no luck with your friends or you local songwriting organisation then hop on the web and go to a few songwriting forums and ask if anyone wants to collaborate with you.

More often than not these forums have a special section where songwriters looking for collaborators can post a request in a hope of finding a co-writer.

Here are four forums/message boards I personally like (and frequent occasionally):

SCALA Message Board
Singer/Songwriter Directory Forum
Songwriters Tip Jar Forums
The Muses Muse Message Board