How important is melody 

Keep in mind that MELODY IS EVERYTHING?    Without it you have nothing!     Try to use the natural rhythm of the words to paint your melody and keep the pattern as true to speech as you can.     There should be a melody in all instruments or groups of instruments to create a melody is also ok.     For example, if you were to listen to an orchestra it is always the sum of the parts that make up the melody so always keep that in mind.     Walk away, and come back, and give it another listen. 

Good luck!

Writing better Lyrics 

Lyric writing is an ever changing process for me.     I have started doing a lot of research on how to develop a good lyric.    The the I am finding the most important is to tell the story as descriptively as you can.    The old process was to leave a lot to the imagination but today's music is screaming for you to be more specific and actually paint the picture for the listener.     The most important word int he sentence is always the verb so work really hard to stay away from the old standby's and come up with something that delivers a real punch.    Happy writing and good luck to all of you!