From your post it sounds like you have written a lot of individual and not necessarily related verses and choruses. To try to piece these together may not be your best bet. A verse and a chorus in a song should generally work together as a single unit. And generally that means that the chorus will finish the thought started in the verse. Usually in a more universal way that lends itself to other verses coming in from a slightly different angle and still making sense with the chorus (which typically doesn't change much throughout the song). The chorus should be the culmination and climax of your verses (and bridge if you use one) where you drive the main point of your song home. Typically it should contain the lyrical hook and a strong melodic hook to help drive your message home and make it memorable to the listener. Remember, melodic hooks are every bit as important, if not more important, as lyrical hooks. A typical listener will remember the melodic hook and be humming it LONG before then know many of the lyrics.
I have read a couple threads here about structure and seen some of the typical "structure doesn't matter much" comments. I would propose that songwriting really is a craft that can and should be studied by anyone seriously interested in moving ahead in the world of songwriting. I'm coming from a Nashville perspective where song craft is EXTREMELY important (in fact you wont' make a very good impression here if you don't at least know your basics). But I think the craft principles can make any songwriter in any genre stronger. Even the master songwriters that seem to break rules here and there, for the most part, know what the rules are and WHY they are doing something different from the standard. I think (my opinion here) it is a common mistake of beginning writers to neglect studying craft and write sloppy songs and call it creativity. You can put a Barbie dress on a turd and call it dolly if you want, but it's still going to stink. I've seen a lot of that. There is nothing wrong with drawing outside the lines. But it's nice to know where the lines are and the reason you want to go outside of them before you cross them.
That said, there are some folks who can study craft 24x7x365 that still can't write anything better than a mediocre song. It happens. THAT's where the creativity comes in. It is a very important ingredient. I wanted to state that lest some of you take from my above statement that creativity isn't important. It most certainly is. When creativity and craft are combined, with a high level of each, to me that is where songwriting magic happens. It comes very naturally to some (a very talented gifted few) and some have to work at it a little harder (I'm in this group as are most writers). This is true even for pro songwriters (those who actually make a living at it).
But take comfort. Even the pros still write stinkers (I've heard some on the radio even). In fact, they write more average songs than not. It's sort of a numbers game once you get to a certain level. You might get 3 song in 10 that is actually better than mediocre and 3 in 100 that is actually exceptional. That goes for the pros here in Nashville as well.
I hope some of the rabmling helped.
