MO Quotes

The temptation to quit and start over infects every creative process I've ever been in. Frustration and boredom always fuel this self-doubt.

God, I'm such a lazy writer - I can't even think up new names.

We know that creative people have all sorts of demons.

If you make your living writing, and you can't write anything, it's over. It's very frightening.

I became paralyzed as an artist with writer's block.

Many artists give up after a while.

I was like, 'Josh Tillman, you are not a songwriter. You are an ape. Stop thinking of yourself as a songwriter.'

I also just accept that I might never want to write a song again.

The big problem with songwriting for me is starting a new song. It's the thing where all the anguish exists, not in the writing of the song, but the starting of the new song.

Weeks go by, and I don't paint until finally I can't stand it any longer. I get fed up. I almost don't want to talk about it, because I don't want to become self-conscious about it, but perhaps I create these little crises as a kind of a secret strategy to push myself.

I was always crazy about New York, dependent on it, scared of it - well, it is dangerous - but beyond that there was the pressure of being young and of not yet having done work you really liked, trademark work, breakthrough work.

By the time I hit college, my secret shame was the reason I was an actor was my own words sort of dried up. I stopped writing. I stopped being able to form my own vision. That's actually what my first feature is about - looking back at two different selves.

That terrible mood of depression of whether it's any good or not is what is known as The Artist's Reward.

I was ready to quit music. It felt to me like music equalled death.

Any artist always has misgivings about calling himself an artist.

Every day I wake up afraid that I won't be able to write, that today is the day it has left me.

I struggled with the pressure of having the successful record after the first record. Second album syndrome. I'm living proof; it's very real. It was like a psychological battle to be creative. I used to never feel pressure to be creative; it's always just been a fun thing. And then suddenly it's my job, and people are asking, 'Where's the record?'

It stresses me out writing songs,; I get really super nervous and speedy. I feel like I'm possessed.

I found New York too... 'vertical,' closed off, I didn't feel the muse like I did in L.A. Maybe it's the weather?

There was this moment, particularly after I had my first child, where I felt like, 'I don't know if I'll ever make a record, or if this is always going to be something just floating around in my head.'

I write a lyric, but when I reread it, I think it's awful and either hide it or crumple it up.

Writing is something that you don't know how to do. You sit down and it's something that happens, or it may not happen. So, how can you teach anybody how to write? It's beyond me, because you yourself don't even know if you're going to be able to. I'm always worried, well, you know, every time I go upstairs with my wine bottle. Sometimes I'll sit at that typewriter for fifteen minutes, you know. I don't go up there to write. The typewriter's up there. If it doesn't start moving, I say, well this could be the night that I hit the dust.

You will face boredom and frustration your entire career as artists. You will be very frustrated seeking a voice/style that collectors can connect with. Once you accomplish that voice/style people are clamoring for, you will become bored doing it.

The style, which is something I take to heart, is getting on my nerves horribly. It frustrates and torments me. I have days when Iam sick about it and nights when it gives me a fever. The more I go at it the more I find myself incapable of conveying the Idea.

I know I should be leaving this climate, I've got a verse, but can't rhyme it.