For songwriting, Preven keeps a notebook with her and "always jots down poetry and prose entries." She then goes back through them in the studio to try and see if anything in the journal can be matched with a melody she is working on to become lyrics. She finds that hit songs are often those that sound similar to other songs, but she rejects trying to "genetically engineer" a song formally, holding that such songs "end up sounding like a ransom note."