Self Doubt & Your Songwriting

The main thing that destroys the creativity in anyone is their own self doubt. We all have it and we all deal with it in our own individual way.

I find it strange that everything we take for granted in our lives was initially invented or created by someone who was confident and courageous enough to develop a new idea.

Imagine what kind of a world we’d live in if say:

Albert Einstein believed in his bad school reports and gave up on life?

Or, if Alexander Graham Bell considered another career path just before he invented the Telephone?

Or, if Thomas Edison believed the naysayers and turned off his Light Bulb idea?

The list could go on and on.

As a songwriter, having confidence that whatever you say is worth something is st the very essence of what writing songs is all about.

This is summed up nicely in an article I found by John Cowell called “Beginner Songwriting 12 Points On Your Self-Doubt”

John Cowell’s piece is a simple and straight-forward article on where self doubt comes from and how you can deal with it. I also like it because it puts foward encouragement to the beginning songwriter as well.

Here it is for your reading enjoyment…

****************************************

Beginner Songwriting 12 Points On Your Self-Doubt
By John Cowell

1. Beginner songwriting self-doubt is normal. Here’s how to fix self doubt in songwriting by learning to neutralize doubt because it’s a logical part of songwriting.

2. You’re not alone because most songwriters have self-doubt. It’s absolutely ok, the trick is writing when doubt makes it difficult to write. It’s easy to feel tied down with everyday stresses that stop you from finishing a great song.

3. However, without doubt, how would you have a healthy fear of failing? A manageable fear of not producing strong songs is important as you can learn to use it to support your writing. Use it to force yourself to dig deeper to write better songs.

4. Songwriters face a lot or rejection from many people. When you respect a person because you value their views, they hold more weight over you than others.

5. What if they think you can’t do it, can’t write a strong song? We often measure ourselves based on what we believe others think of us.

6. Nothing kills inspiration and songs faster than your own internal words that sensor what you are writing. We all have this worry that comes from the fear of failing.

7. But the good news is maybe you are a brilliant and wonderful songwriter. How will you ever find out if you don’t write and rewrite?

8. Doubt of your ability creeps in when you’ve been reminded of failed efforts or expectations. But the greatest failure of all is not realizing your potential.

9. Sometimes it doesn’t seem to make sense. All these people may love and respect you, but you can still doubt yourself. You can create failure in your mind.

10. Creativity is not limited to a few who express their experiences in commercially successful songs. We are all creative. Visualize yourself reaching what you want and the satisfaction you will experience. In other words, see yourself performing well.

11. There is a great deal of room for unique points of view and in fact people are just waiting to hear a great song that touches them. We all have our moments of self-doubt, often when we see someone else’s great success.

12. There’s room in beginner songwriting to learn to create great songs. And it can be learned. The people who are successful are the proof. But you must believe in yourself. I have an excellent example of a Hall Of Fame songwriter expressing normal self doubt.

****************************************

About the author

John Cowell is self proclaimed songwriting addict. His fresh approach to songwriting tips and advice will have you saying “Ah-Ha” over and over again.

To get simple and terrific ideas on how to write great songs visit his website http://www.greatsongwriting.com

To learn how to build your dream web site and web business like John did, go to http://www.greatsongwriting.com/sbi-tv.html

It’s easier than you think!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Cowell

****************************************

I remember starting out on my songwriting journey all those years ago.

I was full of passion and enthusiasm but not much knowledge. Once I started getting some songwriting knowledge, experience and musical theory under my belt I started developing this thing called self doubt.

I started to compare myself to others and, at the same time my inner critic started to plant seeds of doubt in my head.

Eventually I got over myself and now the willingness to write songs comes easily to me however, in getting there I went through a lot of pain.

I’m sure most songwriters experience this at least once in their lives. If you’ve had a similar experience let me know. I’d love to hear about it.

Until next time, happy writing

Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician

Keywords: songwriting, songwriter, songwriting tip, songwriting help, songwriting idea, songwriting blog, songwriting technique, corey stewart

Be Sociable, Share!

No related posts.

Tags: Creativity, lyrics, music, Songwriter, Songwriting, songwriting blog, songwriting tip, writing, zen

Monday, May 26th, 2008 Songwriting Zen

4 Comments to Self Doubt & Your Songwriting

sanoittaja says:

May 27, 2008 at 4:37 am

Yep. For me the hardest part have alvays been the fear of jump in to the next level. Starting cooperation with real PROs was not easy cause no one can’t tell when you are good enought.

Jannie Sue says:

June 4, 2008 at 3:01 pm

Boy, this one is GRRRReat. I better not let another week or so slip by without catching up on your posts. Food for my soul, thanks.

My biggest thing is not being able to play guitar well enough to accompany myself on the songs I already wrote. I didn’t practice today. But overall, I did make some real progress on 2 songs since my guitar lesson 2 weeks ago, and my next lesson is tomorrow. Not major major progress, made but some on both songs so I should now be smiling.

I guess I’m scared I’ll “never get there”. That kind of self-doubt. But I’m now going to let that thought die the miserable death it deserves!

songwritingzen says:

June 4, 2008 at 4:41 pm

Jannie, if you consider your songwriting as a journey and not a destination then “never getting there” ceases to be an issue.

All you can do right now is do the best you can with the knowledge you have. Practise as much as you can and any progress is better than no progress.

Corey

Jannie Sue says:

June 5, 2008 at 1:37 pm

Yeah, and 20 mins of happy, relaxed and intentioned practice is better anyday than 4 hours of rote practice with a frown on my face. Had a great guitar class today, my progress showed and I’m ready to take it to the next level with relaxed and smiling practice over the next two weeks till my next class.

For me, “getting there” will be when I can play and sing enough of my songs for a 45-minute set and since I’ve back-tracked on the guitar on a lot of the songs…. okay, okay enough whining. I will perservere.

yes, the journey, thanks for reminding me of that.

BTW, have you read Christine Kane’s songwriting blog? (Actually, a songwriter with topics to appeal to folks in general.) Uplifting stuff.