If you’ve ever felt stuck in your songwriting like you’re working hard but not really moving forward, it might not be your talent that’s the problem. It might be your focus.
Clay Mills, co-founder of SongTown and a 16-time ASCAP hit songwriter, recently published a piece that cuts to the heart of what separates writers who grow from those who stay stuck.
Drawing on over a decade of teaching thousands of songwriters, he’s identified 10 focus mistakes that keep songwriters from reaching their full potential.
Here’s a rundown of what he covers and why it’s worth thinking about.
1. Trying to write a great song instead of becoming a great songwriter
Obsessing over one song and hoping it changes your life is a trap. Great songs come from great songwriters and that only happens through consistent work on your craft over time. As Tom Douglas once said, “You’ll never write a great song trying to write a great song.”
2. Thinking you’ll eventually master it
Songwriting doesn’t have a finish line. Hemingway said it well: “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” The writers who keep improving are the ones who stay curious and keep going back to the fundamentals.
3. Handing over responsibility for your success
Waiting for a publisher or industry contact to come along and make things happen for you is a dangerous mindset. Nobody will push your career harder than you will. Take ownership of your craft, your output, and your momentum.
4. Focusing on obstacles instead of opportunities
“I don’t have a publisher.” “There’s no one in my town to write with.” These are real challenges, but they’re more solvable than ever. Songwriters are collaborating across the globe online, and your location no longer has to define your reach.
5. Being too inwardly focused
Writing from personal experience is important, but if a song only makes sense to you, it’s closer to a diary entry than a song anyone else can connect with. The skill is taking something personal and finding the universal truth inside it.
6. Focusing on being heard instead of being worth hearing
Musician Victor Wooten nailed this one: most people focus on getting heard instead of becoming worthy of being heard. Get so good at what you do that people can’t help but notice.
7. Missing the opportunity right in front of you
It’s easy to spend all your energy trying to write with bigger names while ignoring talented people right in your orbit. A lot of the best success stories in songwriting come from writers who grew alongside their peers, not from chasing names above them.
8. Comparing yourself to other people’s success
Social media makes everyone else look like they’re constantly winning. What you’re seeing is their highlight reel. Stay focused on your own progress and trust your own path.
9. Being afraid someone will steal your song
This one’s common, especially early on. Clay’s advice: copyright your work and put it out there. If no one hears your songs, nothing will ever happen with them.
10. Believing the starving artist myth
The idea that commercial success and artistic integrity can’t coexist is simply not true. Plenty of the most respected artists in music history have made work that was both meaningful and successful. You don’t have to choose between the two.
These are the kinds of mindset shifts that don’t get talked about enough in songwriting circles. It’s easy to focus on technique (chord progressions, rhyme schemes, song structure) but the mental side of the craft matters just as much.
Worth a full read over at SongTown: 10 Major Focus Mistakes That Amateur Songwriters Focus On
