Summarize this article in one sentence.
Imagine settings and characters. Although the subject matter can be just about anything, songs are widely used to convey very personal stories, so focus on characters especially: their motivations, what actions they might take, and the consequences of those actions. Of course, no rule says that you must start with lyrics before composing the music. So if you wake in the night with a snatch of melody in your head, feel free to skip ahead to Part 2 and start from there. But having a firm grasp on the story you want to tell can make critical choices easier when composing music. Even if you only aim to create an instrumental piece, consider keeping a story in mind to guide you. Classical composers would often do this for inspiration. For instance, Dvorak scored the second and third movements of his ninth symphony, "From the New World," to a poem by Henry Wordsworth Longfellow. Songs are typically structured into verses and choruses. A traditional verse is composed of four lines, with the second and fourth line forming a rhyme. Build your characters here and develop your story. For example, Bruce Springsteen's "Brilliant Disguise" depicts the mounting mistrust between a husband and his wife. Each verse depicts their relationship by listing the husband's growing suspicions. While verses develop a story, the chorus sums up the situation. Use the chorus to hammer home the point you're trying to make. It can be expressed in a single line that's only sung once, a single line that's repeated for emphasis, a rhyming couplet, or four lines, just like a traditional verse. In "Brilliant Disguise," Springsteen follows the four-line format for his chorus. In a few words, he sums up the overall theme of mistrust with: "So tell me what I see/When I look in your eyes/Is that you, baby/Or just a brilliant disguise?" A middle-eight (also known as a bridge) is a unique piece of music within a song. Usually it comes before the last verse and chorus, offering the audience a fresh change in sound. Lyrically, they serve as a means to express a significant change in the story, whether it's a change in perspective for the characters or a new turn in the narrative. However, middle-eights are not necessary, so don't feel obligated to write one. In the last verse before the middle-eight in "Brilliant Disguise," the narrator begins to switch focus from his wife to himself as he wonders why she's with him at all. Springsteen employs the middle-eight to expand this shifted focus. Here, the narrator examines his own actions and state of mind, revealing a new dimension to his mistrust with the conclusion: "I wanna know if it's you I don't trust/'Cause I damn sure don't trust myself" In your first draft, concentrate on the story itself and flesh it out in full. With each subsequent draft, make edits that will strengthen your lyrics when sung. Count the number of syllables in each line to make sure no one line has too many for you to sing. If you're using a rhyming scheme, identify cliched rhymes, like "forever" and "together." See if you can express the same idea in other words that will stand out as an original statement instead of a borrowed phrase. Don't worry about perfecting a final draft just yet. Most likely you will have to make additional edits once you've composed the music.

Summary:
Choose a story to tell. Flesh your story out in verse. Encapsulate your theme in the chorus. Consider including a middle-eight. Write multiple drafts.