What I noticed is that I'm not trying so hard to come up with the most amazing riff ever. From that, I'm thinking more in terms of the arrangement and that the riffs I am rolling around in my head are simple but catchier to my ear.
It's not that I've had a chance to complete anything yet since I'm just goofing off but once I get around to picking up a few more 'supplies', I might give a few full song recordings a go.
Back to the point, I think when you're think in terms of the song arrangement, then the song grows. Not just the 'verse, chorus' part of it but the instrumentation too. Thinking not just of the guitar part but all parts. In some ways, it's easier for me to think in terms of bass lines (which is why I'm about to pick one up).
I used to try to write full songs on just riffs and lyrics and I think they were just total trash. So, as I am now at my advanced aged (hehe), I think I understand the breadth of the song so much better.
