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Keeping faith in yourself

When you are faced with constant rejection, the bills need to be paid and you are not able to concentrate on your music because of your day job, it can seem very bleak indeed. It is certainly true that a lot of what happens as a songwriter, particularly in the early years, is down to the work you do yourself in getting your work known, recorded, talked about and played live. But, even later on, songwriters who are successful and making a living still have to keep working to sell their songs.

You have to constantly maintain your confidence in yourself as a writer and that is a complex balancing act which is down to what works for the individual. For some people it is just part of their personality, for others it is there because they have had a number of successes. It can certainly help if you have a few gold or platinum discs staring you in the face!

Never think about your songwriting 'career' at 4am in the morning.

For others just starting out, it is a case of keeping your self-belief going by whatever means can help.

Here are a few suggestions to help you keep faith in yourself:

There's no doubt we can lose faith in ourselves if we are surrounded by people who don't support what we do. Make sure you have friends or family members who support what you are doing. If you don't, then create that support network for yourself by meeting other songwriters through music organisations, courses or going to gigs and open mic nights.
Stress gets us down and can weaken our confidence. Learn to recognise when you are stressed. Take up a way of combating it - meditation, yoga or exercise can help. So can talking to someone else.
Never think about your songwriting 'career' at 4am in the morning. Everything seems bleak just before dawn.
Count your successes - not your failures.
Don't forget to enjoy yourself.

Cassidy, Cardiff
Whether you plan a song before you write it or "discover" it as you go along all depends on which approach you like to use. Writing music's an art, and there's no saying that it has to be done one way or the other. Personally, I often have certain trains of thought rumbling around in my head for ages before I write a song. Once the thoughts have percolated for long enough, they come out relatively easily while I'm writing a tune. Then again, sometimes that can kill the immediacy of a song, and you might want to come up with the message and lyrics entirely on the fly. In short, do whatever you feel like, and don't be afraid to try different approaches for different songs: you're the one creating them, after all. Whatever you come up with, if you enjoy it then you've satisfied your most important audience.

Robin, Windsor
Yes, I agree a song is about discovering. The best ones all seem to involve some story or concept that presents itself (to me) as I'm writing it. A bit like solving a puzzle. That's why I've been writing for 30 years and will continue as long as I live. If the world wants to listen that's great, if not it ain't my fault. At least with the internet its now possible to publish (and be dmd).

kevin, milwaukee wi.
I'm a self taught guitarist, who's had a few melodies standing idle for years. after a recent injury, i have a lot of time to finally try to put lyrics to them. i've spent countless hours reading just how to do it.i have lots of ideas of what i want to say, but then i read a songwriter say the following "If you already know what you want to write, don't write a song, write an essay. A song is about DISCOVERING!" Talk about a faith breaking thought! Do you believe this is true? p.s. very informative website thank you....

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