1) Put 'you' in the first line

Around half of all Lennon/McCartney lyrics use the magic songwriting words you or your in the first line. These words, especially when used with the words 'I' or 'Me' allow the listener to imagine that the song is about them and to allow the listener to imagine they are singing the song to another person.

The opening words of the following songs are all addressed straight to the listener. 'I Want To Hold Your Hand', 'We Can Work It Out', 'Taxman', 'Tomorrow Never Knows', 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds', 'With A Little Help From My Friends', 'It's Only A Northern Song', 'Baby You're A Rich Man' 'Glass Onion', 'Revolution'. Indeed on some of these songs it sounds as if the Beatles wrote the lyrics like they were having a conversation with their listener.

Songs that are purely about yourself can still involve the listener too. In fact it is very important persuade the listener to empathise with you. John was a master at persuading others to engage in his own personal crises. 'Nowhere Man' was a description of himself, but he writes it in the third person and then asks the listener to imagine that the nowhere man is like 'you' or 'me' Again the first words of 'Strawberry Fields Forever' are in invitation to the listener to take a trip into his childhood reverie.

John once summed up the intention of the Beatles' music as to communicate. Can you honestly say the same of your own songs?