Olivia Rodrigo has stated that writing Guts "tested her confidence".
The 20-year-old singer-songwriter has shared that the process of writing her sophomore album taught her several lessons.
"The experience tested my confidence and patience," Olivia told Variety of writing the album. "It taught me some important lessons about songwriting in terms of focusing on your craft rather than just waiting for inspiration to strike."
The musician continued, "It taught me about the mindset that is most conducive to writing: You can never sit down at the piano and try to write something that everyone will like; that always results in a really bad song. It taught me that I write songs that I want to hear."
Olivia added that her current goal is to write one song per day to support her mental health.
"These days, I try to write one song every day. I just feel like myself when I'm writing. If I don't do it, I get depressed," she told the publication. "I'm just writing songs to process what's going on, whether in my personal life or in my perception of the world."
Olivia created Guts with her co-writer and producer Dan Nigro. The album has been nominated for Album of the Year ahead of the 2024 Grammy Awards.
"On Guts, I felt I had a lot I wanted to get off of my chest - the shame and embarrassment and regrets," Olivia expressed to Variety candidly. "All feelings that are hard to externalize in everyday life but I think this record gave me an outlet to process them... It was a very important album for me to write as Olivia the person."
