I wrote a note to myself the other day – ‘Write it down, no matter how dumb it seems at the time.’  I often have this thought when working on a lyric.

For me it happens something like this:  I have an idea that makes me cringe; it’s so stupid/awkward/obvious/obscure/pretentious/disconnected, etc.  Although I don’t keep score, I’m sure that first response is more often than not correct – the idea probably does stink (though not always).

But the point is this – that’s the line that’s going to get me to the next line… which might not stink… and might even be OK… or even good.  I can’t let that ‘cringe’ reaction, no matter how accurate I may think it is, stop my forward progress.

I’m not saying there isn’t a time to throw in the towel on a line of thought, a particular direction, or even a whole song sometimes.  But that comes later – not in the moment when I need to give everything I’ve got to making the song work, to solving its particular problems.

Writing for me is like a dream where, searching for something, I’m going around a corner… which leads to another corner to go around… then another… then another… etc.  I don’t know, can’t know, can’t see, what’s around the next corner… or the next.  What I do know is that I have to go around this corner, the one in front of me – which may itself be very questionable – first.

When I write, I can’t and don’t want to completely shut off the ‘judging’ part of my responses.  But I’ve got to give it a back seat in favor of the need to move ahead, to find out what’s around the next corner… and hopefully eventually turn the corner where I’ll find the treasure I’m searching for.