5. Most of all: get out of the way. Support the text. Smooth over the rough edges where it’s needed but don’t broadcast the fact you’ve done it. Don’t try to be clever. No one likes cleverness for the sake of being clever.

4. You’ve found your voice (or maybe you stole it). Great! But that doesn’t mean all your songs should should sound the same. There are thousands of great composers you can steal from!

3. Edit mercilessly. Cut every single gram of fat. You may think the four-chord progression you lifted from Hamilton is the best thing next to Seasons of Love. Sure, everyone borrows. But six verses of the same thing without variation is a bit much.

2. Setting all the songs in the same or closely-related keys—especially at the expense of your singers—is a dead giveaway of your personal limitations as a performer. You should never get in the way of your own music.

1. Write for the actor’s voice, not your instrument. Invest some time to understand what this means. Ask for help if you need it.