You are going to get as many answers to as you have writers. There is no right or wrong way. But over the years I have learned one thing. Melody gets them there, lyrics keep them there. In this era of the disposable song, the lyrics become more and more the defining factor in songs. If people can related to it, they are more likely to stay tuned to it. If they don't relate, it is usually just one more melody that they can dance to and actually just seque's into another song.

I came from the rock world where the melody and production were everything. I gravitated to country with rock undertones because I still care about the groove and feel but need to talk about something. Country and Nashville are much more lyric oriented and the metaphors don't really work here.

The differences can be described as the difference between abstract, impressionist art and the grand masters. In rock or pop you can have a bowl of fruit with eyeballs on the oranges, noses on the apples and blood and guts everywhere. In country it has to look like a bowl of fruit. May not be as different, but is generally more understandable with a broader audience. It is why a lot of rock artists find their way here at one time or another. Just makes it more interesting and challenging to write. There are only 12 notes.

At any rate it is about connecting with the audience. However you get there, is irrelavant as long as you get and keep attention with the audience.

The process I generally use with my students and what I have learned from writing with hit writers is:

Get a conversation going on various subjects. Jot down notes on various phrases, rhymes, words or thoughts that jump out.
I write from the first line down, developing a story around the various thoughts and senarios going on in people's lives. The hook usually manifests itself from that. At the same time I am writing down lyrical ideas, I am formulating musical grooves, passages, chord progressions. Usually the conversations have included style and types of songs to give a beginning direction.

At some point, I generally pick up the guitar and play what comes out. Very free form but structured. I shoot for a verse and chorus pattern because it gives a road map, if that is as much as we get, each writer can take the map and work on it's own or if that is not the direction, we can scrap it and move in a different direction.

I use all senses, touch, taste, smell, hearing, sight, as well as emotion. I take mental notes on the scene just like a music video or short film storyline. I identify the characters involved, the scene, the dialogue, just like directing a movie.
The musical style is interfused with the lyric contents throughout like a dance. Each song has:

#1 Reality based in dialogue.
#2 Conversational in tone.
#3 Memorable melodic hook.

I generally write in verse, lift of channel, chorus with the hook at the end. Usually two verses and possibly a bridge and out. This is how about 90% of most popular music has been written for a hundred years. There are a variety of styles, and structures inside that but most commercial music is written in that style.

I want the audience to immediately connect with the subject, see the entire scene in their mind's eye, be able to hum or sing along with it by the second chorus and wrap it all up in a 3 minute and 30 second time frame. Keeps me from wasting any lines. I use distinctive visual furniture in each line and great specifics in each detail. I don't allow the audience to have to fill in the blanks because usually they don't want to work that hard. I avoid cliche's and hard to define metaphors, because they are generally overused and make it harder to describe what you are trying to say. And with the overabundance of music in the world, the last thing you want it to have someone tune you out quickly, which they most certainly do. Always something else on.

Less is more from my particular point of view and if I can say the same thing in one verse and chorus that most take two and three verses to get to, generally I am going to get to my hook and thereby be more memorable. People are more likely to ask you for copies, purchas CD's, downloads, etc. and tell others about you more if you make it sweet simple and keep them engaged.

The most important aspect is Memorability.

That's what I shoot for. Don't know if I always get it but that is the goal.

MAB