Feeling like everything you write sucks.

It is directly related to WHY you are writing them. If the motivation is success and $ It can be discouraging for sure. As an expression of art on a personal level there should be a bond there. I love the crappy stuff I write, I just dont expect anyone else to. FWIW

 

you know you're a writer when:
- most of it sucks
- you never give up, ever
- but most of it sucks
- but you never give up, ever
- yada yada

if you give up = you're not a writer! good luck with your writing!

 

A guy once said to me, "I want to be a writer."

I said, "so write."

 

Just keep at it. Nobody just started writing great stuff, you need to hone your craft. You can't get tot he good ones without some (or in some cases lots) of garbage. And who says your songs are not good?

 

Sometimes when someone thinks they suck and should quit, they're not wrong.

 

Like any art you will probably reject 90% of your ideas. It's still a good idea to keep a record like recording your ideas. Just because something isn't working immediately doesn't mean that you might not find a use for it later.

C/S,
Rev J

 

I really wasn't saying that to be a downer or discourage anyone. But some realism every now and then can be healthy. And there's nothing wrong with playing other people's music. But if you have a creative impulse and you feel like there's music you want to make, you should. It's a leisure activity. You can put in as much or as little time into it as you want.

 

Crap. This is only true if you keep giving up at stuff. If you aren’t failing you aren’t learning:

Thomas A. Edison: 'I have not failed. I've just found 10000 ways that won't work’

Persevere and work through the dross, you’ll come good eventually.

 

LOL!!

 

Time for a vacay.

Everything I've ever butted heads with got a lot better after a break.

 

I've been there. The fact is that writing good songs takes a lot of hard work and practice. It's not unlike any other part of trying to be a good musician. It takes time, failures, and learning. Just keep doing it.

 

The odds of writing great songs are against you IMHO. When you put your own songs up against those of masters like the Beatles, Dylan, Elvis Costello, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, etc. it's easy to come up short.

One way to get better is to analyze what makes great songs great...really pay attention to the melodies, chords, rhythms and lyrics. Songwriting is a craft and it can be learned if you devote yourself to it.

Just write more songs and keep throwing away the ones you think suck rather than trying to rework them.

 

Nope.

Couldn't disagree more.

But thanks for the negative reinforcement. Those who are trying to refine their craft desperately need more of it.

Most people who suck and should quit are assured of their own brilliance.

Most people who doubt it need to learn not to listen to critics, most of whom have no actual accomplishments of their own.

 

Don't you believe it. You can fail 100,000 times, but it won't matter if you succeed.