Ric, I'm happy to help if I can. Songwriting is often a skill that is learned from other songwriters as well as mining one's own talents. People like Sonny & Freddy are the guys I learn from at present. Sonny's style is very simple. Songs like " Smooth Sailing", "The Cowboy Rides Away", & "Looking For A Rondezvous" are all 3-4 chord songs. Yet they were all hits. Freddy Power's songs are much more jazz & swing oriented & you better be paying attention to the changes or he'll leave you lost in the woods pretty quick.Even so, he wrote plenty of hits..."I Always Get Lucky With You", "Friend In California" " Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn" & Texas & Oklahoma" "Little Hotel Room" There are all kinds of ways to make it happen. For myself, I'll pick simple, but won't rule out sophisticated.