Why Songwriting is The Fast-Track to Creative Confidence
In an Adobe survey on creativity, it was determined that only four out of ten people describe themselves as creative. This, to me, is a true shame. As human beings, creativity is our birthright and privilege. But just because we’re all creative doesn’t mean we don’t need to nurture our creativity. The keys to creativity are practice and intention and, to that end, there is no better intention and practice than writing songs. The beauty of writing songs is that not only does it reawaken our creativity, but it also builds our creative confidence which has the power to improve all areas of our lives in significant ways. Belief in our creative ability is the key and songwriting can get us there. Below are a few ways that writing songs builds our creative confidence.
Every Lyric Forces Clarity
At any given moment, we have countless thoughts and emotions running around inside of our heads. By taking the time to write a lyric, we’re articulating those thoughts and emotions with precision and honoring our personal truths. This alone is worth the price of admission when it comes to songwriting. We’re imposing order on our internal chaos and gaining critical clarity along the way. Knowing that this is a power we possess is half the battle. Using that power is the other half.
Song Structure Offers Creative Boundaries
One of the assumptions made about creativity is that it’s wide open and free of all structure and restraints. While, on occasion, this can be true, I’ve found that my most creative projects have benefitted from both structure and boundaries. Song structure (the way verses and choruses are designed to work, for example) provides exactly the kind of limitation that can paradoxically free us up to explore and innovate within a constrained space. Once we make our way past our long-held myths and preconceptions about creativity, we can simply get to work and, in that work, gain creative confidence.
Seeing Our Creative Progress in Real-Time
The power of moving from a first draft of a song to the final performance gives tangible evidence of growth and progress. There is nothing like the feeling of creative momentum to put wind in our sails. One of the established rules of creativity in the early stages is to move forward without spending any significant time trying to perfect the process. There will always be time for editing and polishing after the fact but momentum is much more important than perfection early on. It’s more fun - and confidence building - to feel the creative process moving along with “good enough for now” work early on than it is to agonize trying to perfect every word and phrase along the way.
Conclusion
Of course, there will always be something magical about songwriting. Creating something from nothing is powerful and not to be minimized. That being said, this is a magic that all of us are capable of. Not only “can” we be creative, but we “should” be creative. It’s a reminder of our shared humanity and the depths of our character. The best part is that once we’ve done it, writing a song becomes yet another reminder that we can be creative in all areas of our lives. That creative confidence is absolutely, positively worth pursuing and songwriting can get you there.
Bio
Cliff Goldmacher is a GRAMMY-recognized, #1 hit songwriter, music producer and author with recording studios in Nashville, TN and Middle River, MD. Through his studios, Cliff provides songwriters outside of Nashville with virtual, live access to Nashville’s best session musicians and studio vocalists for their songwriting demos. Find out more. You can also download Cliff’s FREE tip sheet “A Dozen Quick Fixes To Instantly Improve Your Songs.”
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