I've been writing for about two years now. I've never really written anything I consider above sub-par. It isn't that I have a lack of ideas, just a lack of an ability to give those ideas the true justice they need. As someone who actually cares about the lyrical ideas being presented and the flow of the phrasing this really concerns me. Is there any tips you guys can give me on how to improve?

1. Find 5-10 songs with lyrics that are badass, and the style you want to write.

2. Re-type them. I'm serious. Manually type those lyrics word for word in another document. Don't do it on autopilot - actually think about what you're writing and how the lines come together.

3. When you've done that, start writing original lyrics that are in the same style. Your brain should be "primed" to write lyrics.

This assumes you already have decent writing abilities. If not, reading lots of books is a good start.

I like MawBTS's suggestions. I have another, but I don't know how universal it will be; it works better for certain lyrical styles than for others.

I often just "freestyle" in my mind, or sometimes quietly out loud, when I am cooking, walking, whatever. This can be strictly in a rap form, or can come with improvised melodies as well. The point is not just that by doing this, you might come up with something interesting. Rather, you are practicing your ability to quickly make connections, to dig up the right words that fit into the meter, and even to detect the meter in advance of totally fleshing it out, and so on.

As an addition to what was already suggested - don't be afraid to share your stuff here for some feedback. The fact that you consider your very own writing as sub par might very well be more indicative of you being overly critical of your own stuff rather than your lyrics' actual quality.

Read more. Either books, or do research. I read books regularly, and it helps me write the kind of lyrics I sing about in my music, which is more fantasy style lyrics. Also, I can never just sit down with the will to write lyrics, it never works. I wait until it hits me, even if I'm out somewhere and don't have access to my notepad, I'll use the notepad thing on my phone to jot down the ideas I have until I can physically write them down. I also am constantly re-reading the lyrics I just typed to keep myself in that same mindset, though I write lyrics more conceptually so maybe that isn't what you're going for, but that all works for me, so maybe it can help you.

And read poetry too! Tons of stuff/resources here: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/

A lot of the time I get my best lyrical concept from random passages in books; I just start thinking about something I read and my mind takes it from there into lyric inspiration land. Last week I was reading Beauty and Sadness by Yasunari Kawabata and there was a great passage about streams of time; people's individual streams of time intermingling and eventually separating, and how the streams flow once separated - just thinking about the passage eventually turned into a poem - there's your lyrics right there. Just sitting around "trying to think of something" never works for me.

Sometimes I read a phrase in a poem and build off it with my own related phrase that will come to me (not copying of course, but conceptual inspiration) and can fit somewhere in one of my lyrics. Poets like Borges, Lorca, Neruda, Eliot and the English Romantics are good for this; very fertile vocabulary and a good way to get your mind thinking on lyrical concepts that are outside the normal metal cliche realm of "look into my eyes, pay for all your lies" etc.

Find a band who's lyrics you like. Read them, research the topics, read about them, memorize some and sing along.

At the end of the day, besides what else I said, the main objective is to practice, and practice more. And if you don't keep it up, you'll lose your talent for it, and will have to start again. So don't get distracted. There is no complex answer, it's just work.

It sounds funny, but if you want to get good at writing lyrics, you should... read some that you like. And get used to singing along with them. Its the same way you develop your guitar playing skills. If you want to get good at something, you keep doing it, and learn from others that have done it well. Try and learn an albums worth of vocals front to back, and write what you think would be good lyrics for an additional song to that. Eventually you'll be good at picking up thematic ques the same way you pick up different kinds of riffs. You might find yourself liking very literal lyrics, first person perspectives, stories, or if you're like me, nonsense. I found myself digging a lot of QOTSA, Sparklehorse, and Mercury Rev a year ago, and now I have an albums worth of total nonsense fit for a freaky alt rock record.

I agree with reading a lot too.