From this Q&A session with songwriter Ryan Adams:
“There have been many times when I couldn’t write, but I was wasted, you know what I mean?
“It isn’t that hard. It’s just a guitar. People used to write each other letters every day… I think that if I can’t get up every day and write for 4 or 5 hours, I shouldn’t be doing this. How hard is it to sit down and write a song if you can play the guitar?”
I’d like to emphasize the “sit down” part of the line immediately above. Sitting down is key. How hard is it for you to sit down? Without Facebook, with your cell phone silenced, with just a guitar or a piano or a notebook to keep you company?
And then, once you’ve settled in, how hard is it for you to stay seated until a song is complete?
There are few rules in songwriting, but if I were to stake my life on the value of any one of them, it’d be this: the more time you spend writing songs, the more successful you’ll be as a songwriter.
Pull up a chair!
Related: Another Post on Sitting Still (this one involves Liszt)