Jenny Han Quotes

Sometimes, particularly in summers in New York, I have tried to write in shorts or with no shirt on and found myself unable to do so, the reason being, I take it, that writing, even of the most impersonal sort, is for me a divestment, a striptease, even, so that if I start off undressed, I have nowhere to go.

What most people know about me, they know through my music. This time, I've tried to open that door as wide as possible. These songs are a giant step closer to who I really am and what my music is all about. Hence the title.

Songs are my diaries; they always have been. You have to put your trust in everyone because putting down those real, personal details and thoughts that make a song authentic also opens you right up. I am constantly misunderstood; a lot of people just don't get me.

When you write, no matter what, it ends up personal.

Writing long hand is the last refuge. One needs the time it takes to put pencil to paper and let it run along the ruled line.

That's something that I think the best artists retain - the ability to invite you into their small, intimate inner space, and let that be what radiates.

Writing a song is so personal. You have to have trust in someone you're working with; otherwise, you're not gonna come out with something that's really you.

As a man lives and thinks, so he will write.

I write with my brain. I don't need a computer.

Of course, I write. I have stories to tell. But I don't want to do superficial stuff any more.

In general, what we really want is a feeling when we read anything that the author has explored the territory as dutifully and as thoroughly as their spirit allows and as their heart allows.

I think 'Shade Room,' it's a different me. You know, I think it's more on the lyrical side, talking about my life and how I really feel. You know, all these things outside of football. And people really get to look at how I feel about things or how I look at certain things. It's not just a song, more so me just telling people how I feel.

In real life, I'm not the center of attention; I'm in the back, and I listen. So when it comes to writing, I just let it all out.

That's the secret to anything we write. You have to bring your experience to it. Otherwise, how do you expect anyone else to connect to it?

I feel it's much easier to be honest or be myself in songs when I'm playing. That's why I felt, 'You know, I'm going to write the truth.'

When you write, you don't really think of how honest you are being - it's only when you record that you understand how much of yourself you're giving.

I write about things and put things into my albums that I don't talk to people about. I don't hold back or sugarcoat anything.

Most of the time, when you are in the studio, you are revealing yourself; you're a bit naked. You can express your weaknesses, your awkward way of approaching sound. Sharing these intimate moments is like inviting somebody into your private room.

Everything that I do is very autobiographical. I'm trying to be as much of an open book as possible and give the audience every single piece of me.

When you write, you are alone. It can be a bit of a shock later to discover that people have read what you've written!

I can be more real and more vulnerable when I sing.

I love, love, love Lauryn Hill's 'MTV Unplugged.' It just helps relax me. I love just where she was in her space with that album and the truth that she was telling.

When you hear me sit at the piano by myself and do one of those super-personal, confessional songs, that's where my true voice is.

When I write songs, I try to remove myself a little bit. Obviously, they're very personal to me, but it feels easier if I feel like I'm writing characters.

I had no ghost writers for the books - I wrote every line myself.