For me, songwriting is like a walk through a forest in the dark; never sure where I'm going; always take a different route; sometimes end up in a swamp. I've written a couple of songs recently and used diminished chords for the first time. I understand that many people will quite rightly read no further as this is clearly going to be a very niche piece, but for those of you who persist, I thank you.
I am a fan of songwriting and when I hear a tune that interests me I'll find out what chords are holding up the melody. Quicksand by David Bowie was one such tune that piqued my interest - especially the circling, rousing movements in the chorus. It was here I first came across diminished chords in situ. They puzzled me greatly and I hid them away somewhere, unwilling to accept that their disturbing tonality could be of any use to me.
Jump forward to a month ago and as I fumbled my way through the dark forest of another song I pushed myself into new, unfamiliar territory and threw in a diminished chord. Three things happened: the song took a new direction and was finished five minutes later; I acquired an unquestioning understanding of diminished chords; the next song I wrote had not one but two diminished chords.
I promise not to use any more diminished chords for a while.
C#dim
