Diversifying your songs
by Andrew Young
(Boise Idaho)
Stay away from your guitar while you are writing! When you pick up your guitar you have a tendancy to play the same things over and over again. Write a song by humming a tune in your head or whistling. If you do this, you generate much more diversity in your music. Keep writing your songs on your guitar (or whatever your instrument of choice is) and all your songs will start to sound the same.
Write the song in your head, then go back later and mimic it on your instrument. The results force you to learn new tricks so to speak.