Songwriting News: The Scariest Songwriting Moment (2024)

I believe that the scariest songwriting moment in songwriting is the moment before you start.

Most of us have voices that play in our heads. Those voices often tell us that the task at hand “can’t be done”. “You aren’t good enough”. “You can’t handle this”…. you know the drill.   It is the rare person who has never heard those voices. The negative self-talk keeps us from starting. If you don’t start or don’t try, then you can’t fail. Or so “they” tell us.

So, we drift through life taking the easy road because these nameless voices don’t believe in us. When you think about it, it seems silly, doesn’t it? Letting nameless, internal voices change the course of our lives? And giving up on something we are DYING to do because we can’t summon the courage to just give it a try.

I’ve discovered that the best way to defeat the scariest songwriting moment is to start.

If you overcome the “scary” moment, you are halfway to victory. The only group that succeeds in anything is the group that starts. The only writers who ever get cuts are the ones who step out on the limb and play their songs for people. There’s no way around it. If you have some dream you would love to chase, but you haven’t because the voices keep telling you that you will fail, I beg you to start. Try. Give it a shot.

Trying and failing is easier to live with than never trying at all.

I’ve done it both ways. I have lots of failures. LOTS of failures. Lots of rejection. But the rejection doesn’t sting like the pain of knowing that I never got up the courage to try. My biggest regrets in life are not things that I tried and failed. They are things I never tried at all. If you want to do something. If you have a dream tugging on your heart. Start. Just start. Don’t wait until the time is right.

The voices will convince you that the time is NEVER right. But you can overcome it.

You can take one baby step in the direction of your dream. And, by starting, you have won. You have entered the group from which all the winners are chosen. And you have kicked regret to the curb. None of us will succeed at everything we try. But trying is the key to living abundantly and to being at peace with why you are here and who you are. I believe that with all of my heart.

Start. Then write on! MD