Stop Comparing—Start Creating: How I Found Confidence as a Songwriter

By Marty Dodson, SongTown Co-Founder

Years ago, when I first started songwriting, I constantly found myself comparing my abilities to the writers around me. I mean, some of these writers could do it ALL—write killer melodies, craft emotional lyrics, and even produce fully finished tracks from their laptops.

Meanwhile, I was just a lyricist. I didn’t play multiple instruments. I didn’t know how to record or build a track. And every time I walked into a writing room, I wondered, How can I possibly compete with these people?

That kind of comparison is poison.

I remember sitting in my office one day, staring at a half-finished lyric and thinking, Maybe I’m not cut out for this. Maybe I’m just wasting my time. It wasn’t that I didn’t love writing—I did. But loving it didn’t stop the doubt from creeping in when I looked at the “talent” around me.

Then something shifted.

I started noticing that some of the songs I wrote—the ones that came straight from my own life, my own heartbreaks, my own struggles—were connecting with people. Even writers I looked up to were saying, “I’ve never heard it said that way before,” or “Man, that hit me in the gut.”

That’s when it hit me. There are songs that only I can write. Not because I’m the most talented. Not because I can play a million chords or track a demo in ten minutes. But because I’ve lived my life—and no one else can write from that perspective.

And the second realization? Hard work trumps talent, every single time. I may not have been the flashiest writer in the room, but I showed up. I studied. I rewrote. I asked questions. I kept learning. And that consistency? It began to open doors.

So if you’re an aspiring songwriter

feeling overwhelmed by the talent around you, I want you to hear this: You don’t have to be the best at everything. You do have to be the best at being you. Stop trying to compete with other people’s strengths, and start owning your unique voice. Because somewhere out there, there’s a listener who needs the exact story you have to tell. And no one else can tell it the way you can.

And when the doubt creeps in—and it will—just remember: Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. And comparison is the fastest way to kill your creativity. So keep writing. Keep showing up. And trust that the songs only you can write are the ones that will matter most.

Peace,
Marty Dodson