In Pat Pattison's book "Writing Better Lyrics" you'll find a great chapter called Learning to Say No: Building Worksheets. Mr. Pattison is one of the best songwriting teachers out there, so having this book in your library is a must.
The chapter mentioned focuses on how to use a process to (1) get your lyric idea focused enough to find some expressive imagery, (2) create a list of words that express your idea in a way that develops a consistency throughout the song and helps you develop "power positions" using the right words within the song, and (3) find rhymes and words you would have never thought to use if you were just staring at a blank sheet of paper.
I use the worksheets to get started. The first few times it takes some time because you're learning how to use the tool - no one's completely comfortable when they learn to drive a stick shift, but if you stick with it (sorry for the bad pun), it becomes part of what you do when driving. Same thing here.
If you would like a worksheet template, please send me an email at: lyrist101@gmail.com
You can find a link to Mr. Pattison's book, along with several other useful books under Songwriting Tools to the right of postings.
