Say what you will about Taylor Swift, but her songwriting skills are sick.

She’s won the big songwriting awards, like the Nashville Songwriters Association International Award for Songwriter/Artist of the Year seven times and the Hal David Starlight Award from the Songwriters Hall Of Fame.

I think she deserves every songwriter’s ear.

In an interview with The Boot, she offers one of the best pieces of songwriting advice I’ve heard.

“My advice to first-time songwriters would be you know the person you are writing the songs about,” she says. “First know that. Then write a letter to them, what you would say if you could.”

The reason I love this songwriting tip is because I have trouble with focus in my songs. Writing a letter would combat my lack of focus.

Try this: write a letter to someone. Then turn that letter into a song.

Who knew Taylor Swift could teach you something useful…

A great app that I use exclusively for songwriting is Evernote. And you can use my referral link to get a free month of a Premium account (although the Free account is awesome too).