Sync is a whole different world of songwriting. Sync is music for television and film. Writing for tv and film deserves a completely different mindset (most of the time) than writing in a specific genre. Here are some exercises to help you grow your sync-writing craft.
1. Watch a movie and mute it when a certain scene that deserves background music comes on. Watch the scene and try to figure out the emotion they are conveying. Now pause it and write from the stream of consciousness. Write everything you see. Don't be so specific that you use character names or details of that sort, but try to envision what kind of song you would be hearing if it was unmuted.
2. Re-watch that movie! Or watch a different movie all together. Take notes on the music you hear throughout it. Plan a cowrite and use those notes in your next session. Though you can't submit music for a movie that is already out, you can always submit for future endeavors of the same genre of film.
3. Look up some soundtracks. Soundtracks tell us a lot about a film and what it contains emotionally. Listen to the soundtrack of the film before you watch it and see what opinions you may derive from it. Check out how the songs tie the movie together.
4. Write toward a character. Switch it up from exercise one and write only about a specific character. This requires you to think deeply and write from the character's perspective.
