The Internal Critic

Since arriving in England I've had the urge to write music again - a passion I seemed to abandon in high school. Coming up with silly songs and faux-showtunes throughout the day is easy to me because I don't take it seriously - even if some of them are actually good. Sitting down and writing a serious rock or pop song? That's another story. The minute I start creating I start critiquing. You could say it's perfectionism, but I think it's really a fear of sounding stupid - even alone in my living room. And fear completely suffocates creativity.

John Mayer's writes in his latest blog entry, "Writing music while also writing a future negative review of the music is a really great way to make slop." Mayer seems to be one of the most talented and prolific songwriters around. I listen to his albums and it's like the lyrics and melodies just flow naturally. It's highly encouraging and inspiring to me to hear that he struggles with an internal critic like the rest of us. Anyway, read his latest blog post. Good stuff.