Taylor Swift’s 10-Word Rule Explains the Work Ethic That Sustained Her 20-Year Career
During a recent fireside chat, the songwriter reflected on creativity, collaboration, and why discipline matters more than waiting for the perfect idea.
Taylor Swift. Illustration: Inc.; Photos: ; Adobe Stock
Award-winning artist Taylor Swift just shared some of the secrets behind her storied writing process, shining light on the lessons she has learned about professional collaboration, risk, and work ethic.
The comments were made during a live fireside chat at the Grammy Museum’s Clive David Theatre alongside Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. The series is part of the Songwriters & Composers Wing’s “The Icon Sessions.” During their conversation, Mason and Swift spoke about the country-turned-pop artist’s influence on music while looking back at her legendary career.
While Swift is known as a multi-talented artist,
While Swift is known as a multi-talented artist, her skills as a songwriter are widely celebrated and even studied at universities like Harvard, Northeastern, and the University of Texas at Austin.
Noting that her writing process often includes the presence of an “idea fairy,” the singer offered 10 words of advice to the audience: “Show up to work even when the idea fairy doesn’t.”
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Unlike many workers who may set a task aside with the aim of returning to it later, Swift said she is not the kind of person who can stop in the middle of writing a song with the intent of revisiting it
“I have to see it through,” she said.
For her, that means picking up a pen and paper, or her phone’s notes app, to record ideas when inspiration strikes, “no matter the social situation,” she said.
Source: www.inc.com
