What do Leonard Cohen, Janis Ian, Tupac Shakur, Patti Smith, Ryan Adams, Jim Morrison, Rod McKuean, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon have in common? Aside from writing hit songs, they each wrote poetry and/or prose. Why does that matter? Perhaps by looking at hit songwriter’s songs in addition to their other written works we can isolate their creative spark and use that as a mirror to help us see our own creative spark–what drives us–what troubles us–what we are trying to say.