Actually books teach how NOT to innovate, lol. Which can work if your intention is to make money writing superhooks and such.

But books like Sheila Davis craft of lyric writing I found to be an incredible read, I learned things I didnt know existed, and maybe the writers of the songs didnt know they were doing.

If your a non performing songwriter, trying to pitch to nashville say, you kind of have to play the uniform game. And that maybe just cause the publisher thinks he knows what people want to hear.

Alll I know is if you start out writing, and two years later, you are writing better songs than when you started, you IMPROVED. Maybe you learned from yourself, but your overal talent didnt change