Writing Better Lyrics is a songwriting textbook by Berklee professor Pat Pattison. The second edition contains 24 detailed chapters about such topics as metaphors, rhyming, repetition, verse development, narrator perspectives, and song structure. The second edition also includes an introduction by Pattison’s former student, Gillian Welch.

Writing Better Lyrics also introduces Pattison’s brainchild, Object Writing, a form of timed freewriting that focuses on sensory details.

Andrea Stolpe–a former student of Pattison’s–has published a book that expands upon some of Pattison’s practices while introducing new techniques and observations on the craft.