Jeff Tweedy's "How to Write One Song" is about "song-writing" as much as "The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" is about fixing motorcycles. One of the things that I loved was this passage which was in the middle of the chapter about getting around writer's block. After a section about "putting the song away" for a time to get a different perspective on it, he has a section titled "Don't Put It Away" that has this paragraph:
Now let's discuss the truth behind what hard, persistent work and a determined outlook can do for you. There are those among us who lose their nerve when things become difficult. Let's face this head-on. Ample excuses will always be available when you're talking yourself out of making any work of art. Number one, "Who needs it?" I mean, it's not like you're clocking out at the sandwich shop while there's a line out the door. You're not a surgeon with an exposed heart beating in front of you that you've just decided isn't really worth the bother today. It's a song. So what? Well, fucker, here's so what! Giving up becomes a habit. And the delayed gratification that comes from a song finished with some hardship is going to teach you more about writing songs than this entire book will ever be able to impart. Through you own grit and effort, you will learn where you're likely to trap yourself in dead ends, and you'll be one more song wiser to the idea that songs all happen the same way.
Not to mention how great it feels to be able to say "I did it. I didn't give up. That song now exists.
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