How to achieve some confidence in my work?

[Symphony.]

So if any of you remember my thread about performance nerves, well, this one's related.
Basically, I keep starting the song I'm writing for the project, but then I lose ALL confidence in it. And I start to hate it, and then I can't come up with anything I like. So, do you have any advice on how to be confident in my work?
Thanks

[i_like_black]

With all creations, the creator goes through a phase of hating what they're producing - sometimes it's early on, sometimes it's near the end, sometimes it's when they can't decide where to go next. It's a part of the creative process.

As someone who did well at art school and with other creative endeavorus, my advice to you is persevere. So you hate it now. Whatever. You still need to get it done, and you have a time-frame to work within.

My next piece of advice is meditate. I don't mean vaguely, either. I mean relax yourself, calm your mind and your body, and just think about what you're creating, what you like, what you want to change, where you could go from here. It's really important to be aware of the things that you LIKE about what you're creating.

Finally, get input from others. Yeah it's scary. What if they don't like it? Well, too bad. You're using them as a sounding board. Tell the people what you're trying to achieve, and then get them to see/hear/experience what you're working on. Use no less than two people and no more than five.

One of the things I found about being at art school was that we couldn't keep our work secret. But as a part of that, we collectively helped each other - I might have been having a bad day, and be thinking my art was so bad that I wasn't sure how I was even at art school, and another in my group would come up and point out something that I'd done really well, and it was a huge confidence boost.

Also, listen to your ego. That's the little voice inside you that just knows when you've done a good job, regardless of anxieties and doubts.

tl;dr: keep working on it even if you hate it.

[Jack Lowden]

Hi Sarah,

I'm moving your thread to the education & careers forum, where I feel it's better fit.

-Barbara, General Forum Moderator

[Symphony.]

Thank you Jess! That honestly really, really helps.