# Your first song

> Start your first song in InnerHook, a lyrics writing app: from Home or the Songs page, answer a question or two, and write. It saves itself.

Canonical: https://innerhook.com/docs/first-song/
Last updated: 2026-10-06

Starting a song takes one click. You can begin on an empty page right away, shape the idea first with a few short questions, or let Autodraft write a first draft from your idea.

## Where to find it

- **Home** is the first thing you see after signing in. A new account sees **Where would you like to begin?** with three ways in: **Write today's pages**, **Start a song** and **Create your artist profile**. If you already have lyrics somewhere, **Import them** brings them in (see [Importing lyrics](https://innerhook.com/docs/import/)).
- Later, Home shows **Continue writing** with your last song and a few others, and **+ New song** beside its heading.
- The left rail's **New song** (the + icon) works on every page.
- The **Songs** page has **Start writing** and **Autodraft** at the top.
- In the editor, **⋮ More** has **New song**.
- Or press ⌘ ⌥ N (Ctrl+Alt+N on Windows and Linux).

> **Tip**
>
> On Home, ⌘ Enter (Ctrl+Enter on Windows and Linux) opens the song in Continue writing.

## Step by step

**+ New song** opens a short dialog that asks one question at a time.

1. **Who is it for?** If you have [artist profiles](https://innerhook.com/docs/artist-profiles/), pick one, or **No profile**. A profile gives the song its genre and gives the writing tools your style. **+ New profile…** makes one and brings you back.
2. **Ready to write?** Choose a way:
   - **Start writing**: an empty page, right now.
   - **Shape it first**: idea, mood, genre and words, about a minute.
   - **Autodraft ✨**: give an idea, get a first draft.
3. If you chose **Shape it first**, answer what you like: **What's the song about?**, **How should it feel?**, **Which genre?** and **Any words that inspire you?** Each has **Skip**. Your answers build a small card beside the questions.
4. On the last view, **Ready when you are**, add **Starting lines** if you have them, then press **Start writing** or **Autodraft ✨**.

Everything you answered goes into the song brief, which you can change later in the side panel's **Settings**.

> **Autodraft uses AI**
>
> **Autodraft ✨** uses AI (Claude) to write a first draft from your idea, the answers and the artist profile. It costs **5 credits**. The song is made only when the draft arrives; if something goes wrong, nothing is made and your answers stay. See [Autodraft](https://innerhook.com/docs/autodraft/) and [Plans & credits](https://innerhook.com/docs/plans-and-credits/).

### Keys in the dialog

- Enter goes to the next question.
- ⌘ Enter (Ctrl+Enter) on any question does **Start writing** with what you have so far, or **Autodraft** once you've written an idea.
- Esc closes the dialog without making a song.

## Writing

The song opens in the editor with the caret in the first section. Just type. A few things to know right away:

- Press Enter twice to start a new section. The new section follows a common song form (Verse, Chorus, Verse…), and you can change its type from its label.
- Type / at the start of a word for a menu of section types and tools.
- Press Space on an empty line for lines and ideas from the writing tools.
- Click the title (**Untitled Song** at first) to name the song.

The [editor tour](https://innerhook.com/docs/editor-tour/) shows the rest in two minutes.

## Saving

You never need to save. Every change goes to the server as you type, and the header shows where things stand:

- **Saving…** while a change is on its way, then **Saved**.
- **Offline, changes kept on this device** when you lose the connection. Keep writing: the changes are sent when you are back online, or the next time you open the song.
- **Not saved** if something went wrong. A notice tells you what to do.

Your songs live in your account, so they are there on any device you sign in on.

## Tips

> **Tip**
>
> Not sure where to start? Write one line you like and press Enter twice. A song can grow from there.

- Want InnerHook to open your last song instead of Home? Turn on **Open the last song at start** in the account menu.
- Your new song shows up on the [Songs page](https://innerhook.com/docs/library/) and under **Continue writing** on Home.