Charlie Puth opens up about his habit of handwriting lyrics

Charlie Puth says he always writes his lyrics by hand with a Bic pen because it allows him to see his songs in color.

The 33-year-old pop star revealed that he never types out words for his tracks on a phone or computer, as he prefers using a colorful biro to mark certain words or lines and give them added meaning.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he explained, “I handwrite lyrics. I never type lyrics on my phone or a computer. It just feels like the song isn’t a song if I type it in – it needs my personality.

“It’s just something mental. Bic produces a product that I literally use every day of my life to make music: the 4-Color Pen. The different colors will trigger different parts of my musical mind.

“So I take it on tour. I take it on airplanes. I take it everywhere I go. If I don’t like a lyric, I’m going to use the color red to scratch it out.

“Red’s bad. Green’s my favorite color. Green means go. That’s usually a good lyric.”

He went on to say that he always brings a pen, notebooks, and a keyboard with him, which he uses not only for songwriting but also to help in social settings.

Charlie added, “[I always travel with] several notebooks and pens. I have to have a little keyboard backstage as well because I feel like sometimes I can’t talk.

“And if I have to meet a couple of people before I go on stage, I’ll just sit behind the little keyboard and play stuff as I’m talking and I feel like the words will come out easier. It actually helps me converse better. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

The singer also revealed that he has been working on new music and plans to release it soon.

He said, “I’m excited about music in general. I can’t share when, but I do plan on putting music out soon. And when it does come out, I feel like a lot of question marks are going to be answered.

“[There will be] a lot of things that I haven’t sung about. Life for me is much different than it was 10 years ago when One Call Away or See You Again came out, so there’s some things to say.

“And I am constantly inspired by my surroundings, both musically and otherworldly, and I just, I hope I get to do this for the rest of my life.”