[Wicked Deeds]

I often wonder why everyone is busy writing and more so, producing. Some do so to hopefully secure commercial success,  others for fun or to be as good as you possibly can be. Maybe you write because it can be a cathartic experience.  There's are many reasons. I would be very interested in hearing why we all spend so much time doing so.

I wrote to achieve success in my twenties though it eluded me. I became much more interested in writing that trying to achieve career goals.   I continued writing and producing throughout my adult life, until a few years ago then started again recently.  I often wonder why I produce my songs since I'm not seeking to achieve success - I'm quite obsessive about making a song/production as good as it possibly can be and there are so many hours involved in doing so. 

why do you write?  I'd love to know.

[JonDavies]

I can't not write

I always just felt it was a natural progression... You play an instrument for a while, eventually you're going to start coming up with your own ideas

I'm not planning on making a living out of it - someone hearing one my songs at an open night and thinking "oh that was nice" is what I'm hoping for really

Good thread, will be following it

[Yodasdad]

I started off originally for a number of reasons. Partly to see if I could, partly because I thought I could, partly because I thought I should and partly because if I could, I didn't want to get to the end of my days not having done so.

What I mean by I thought I should is, I spent years playing other people's music and never had anything of my own to show for it. I'd spent ours on hours improvising, either for fun or within other songs and all of it had just gone into the ether., so I thought I should get something down.

Now that I know I can, I'd like to see where it takes me. I enjoy writing and if all I ever end up with is a body of work for my great grand kids to listen to, that's okay with me but if there's a possibility that I can make a bit of money along the way, I'm going to pursue that too.

With regards to production, it's always interested me and I know what you mean about sepending hours and hours trying to get things perfect, my wife will vouch for that. It's obsessive really but I think it's time well spent as it's all learning and improving.

And yes I definitely think it's cathartic, at the very least it takes my mind off things.

Yodasdad

[Mike67]

I'm with Jon, I can't not do it.  If I wasn't writing lyrics I'd be writing poetry. I crave the constant buzz of coming up with a phrase, or two or three that mean something to me, and paint a picture. I'm addicted to it like a drug and I ain't going to rehab; no, no, no.

[tone]

My dad wrote songs when I was a kid, and my grandmother wrote poems, so writing never seemed strange or exotic to me. Once I picked up the guitar, it wasn't long before songs started to emerge. I didn't really take it seriously until I got to about 17 or so. Some quality songwriting caught my ear, and I thought to myself 'maybe I could do that'.

So I started writing with a bit more purpose, but never really thought of doing anything with it. Fast forward another couple of years and I found myself in a band with a record deal offer. In a strange twist, none of my songs made it into the band because the singer/ songwriter's ego was too fragile and over-inflated to let them in. But that experience did give me the confidence that maybe I was a good enough musician to let myself take it a bit more seriously.

After I walked away from that band, I focused on writing, having realised I wasn't cut out for life on the road, I didn't really know what I could do with my songs once written, so I just sort of kept them to myself, or played them to a few friends from time to time.

But I'd always wanted to make a proper studio album - to see if my songs would stand up to the scrutiny of proper record-making. So when I hit my mid 30s I realised it was now (then) or never. I pulled my socks up and hit the open mic scene, trying my songs out in front of strangers in earnest for the first time. This motivated me to write a whole load of new songs, more suited to that kind of environment, and I think more suited to being recorded.

So I made the record. And I think the songs survived. But I still write. Why did I start writing? It was something interesting to do. Why do I still write? Because I think I might be good at it, and it feels good to be good at something. And because I get to say things I can't say any other way. And because writing a song is the best feeling I know. And because I bloody love hearing a good new song for the first time - written by anyone - and the joy of listening to it over and over, getting to know it. Maybe someone will have that experience with one of my songs.

Why do I produce? Because I can't afford to use a real producer all the time, and I want my songs to sound good - that was the reason to begin with, but now I actually like doing it. It's much more rewarding than I ever thought it would be, and I can't believe I put off learning it for so long, thinking it would take away some of the magic.

Did I answer the question? I love writing, but it doesn't come as easily as I want it to. If I read that Bukowski poem on writing, I feel like the biggest fraud because I don't usually have to write. I just really want to.

[pompeyjazz]

Self expression, relaxation and that wonderful feeling of just being yourself

[CaliaMoko]

I write because I want to be a songwriter. I really want to be able to write songs I can sing without feeling embarrassed and hoping no one is listening. I wish I would have gotten more serious about it sooner. I wish I could have found groups like this one. I was born too soon. No internet. Hardly any computers, even, and none of them small enough to fit on a desk. Maybe not even in our house. I don't really know how big the earliest computers were. Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses....

I used to think no one would write music unless they just wanted to, but apparently that isn't true. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend a couple of music workshops by Tom Price (co-writer of "Bad Habits" and "Try Biology") and he said he had never in his life written any music unless he needed it for something. I was shocked. If I could write like he does, I would be writing all the time.

[ScottLevi]

Good question, and some interesting reading.

Here's mine, probably in a rough sort of order

• "Cathartic Experience"
• Pure unexplainable enjoyment
• A feeling of productivity (To avoid the "Imagine what I could've achieved if I'd done something with all that time I wasted watching TV and playing video games")
• Capture a state of mind or feeling at a point of time (In a similar way "a picture paints a thousand words", a song captures more than the sum of it's parts)

All the best,
Scott.

[Jamie]

I love music, I've always felt it was a massive part of my life. From the early days when I learned to play, wrote songs with my mates, joined bands, played covers, and wanted to be a 'rock star'. I made decisions maybe to my deep regret didn't follow through with collaborations with players who have earned a very healthy lifestyle in music. However, I went through many years where music was secondary whilst remaining important so that I could build my career and family security. Now that I have time I can finally go back to my dream of writing and recording my own songs in my own studio! It's of little importance financially but intellectually and artistically it's important to me that I can at least try to create something that I can, even if no one else cares about, is mine, an expression of who I am. On the other hand I still enjoy playing gigs with my covers band coz that's fun too!
Cheers
Jamie

[hardtwistmusic]

I can't not write

What Jon said.  If you can stop, you're not a songwriter (anymore.)