I hate almost everything I write–at first. Last week I spent an hour writing a guest post for Echo Hub. It was a great post but I hated it! I felt like a two-year-old could have been more eloquent.
I was faced with a decision. (1) I could scrap the idea and twiddle my thumbs until a new one came along. (2) I could wrestle with it, overpower it, and make it my slave.
I’m so glad I went with the second option. I printed it out and started marking that sucker up! I got rid of my emotional attachment and whiny attitude and made it better.
I got rid of my attempts to sound cool. I got rid of my fear that my idea sucked. I figured out what I wanted to say and I said it.
How many times do we mess up our great work by trying to seem cool? How often do we fear what people think? How often do we even know what we’re trying to accomplish with our art?
Put aside your ego.
Put aside your fear.
Figure out what you want.
Go for it!
Wrestle until you’ve subdued those things that make your art horrible. Put those things away so your good work can shine through.
By the way: Scott from Echo Hub liked the post. I won the wrestling match. Read it!
Great stuff! I’ve had to realize this about songwriting. I usually like it at first, then realize what a horrendous monstrosity it is…then later, after I sleep on it, I realize it’s not so bad after all. I learned that I just gotta let go and be passionate without worrying about any negative outcomes. I had to do the same with guitar playing. Once I stopped focusing on how I sound to people and how I can make a better impression and started just letting the passion drive me and loving every minute of it then my playing in front of people really took off. It kills stage fright cuz you don’t care about any of that crap anymore; you’re just connecting with your musical passion and having a great time.
Awesome man! You’re such a stud! 🙂
Great stuff! I’ve had to realize this about songwriting. I usually like it at first, then realize what a horrendous monstrosity it is…then later, after I sleep on it, I realize it’s not so bad after all. I learned that I just gotta let go and be passionate without worrying about any negative outcomes. I had to do the same with guitar playing. Once I stopped focusing on how I sound to people and how I can make a better impression and started just letting the passion drive me and loving every minute of it then my playing in front of people really took off. It kills stage fright cuz you don’t care about any of that crap anymore; you’re just connecting with your musical passion and having a great time.
Awesome man! You’re such a stud! 🙂