My approach to lyric writing is perhaps somewhat atypical. When I was younger I read poetry by Poe, Tennyson, Crowley, Dunsany, Coleridge and others, as well as being inspired by the lyrics of my favorite bands. I view lyrics as poems first, and have many notebooks full of these lyrics/poems.

I always write lyrics separately from music. After the music is completed, or at least in some playable form, I will go through my notebooks and pick out two or three sheets, begin trying to create a melody to sing to and try to fit words to music. I like to tell a story, and I very rarely have choruses in my songs. I'm interested in the story, not some "hook." Ever notice in pop songs, the chorus is all you hear? To me that approach really devalues the lyrics.

For topics, there's so much to write about. Personal experience is good, of course, but I like to explore dark topics such as history and war, the occult, sex, death and the strange characters that wander in the worlds of my mind.