Collaborative lyricism or solo - pros and cons - feel free to discuss

[Ebony Zebedee]

You could state that all attempts at lyricism are a collaborative effort being that artists are inspired by others to express themselves

Or you could argue that solo artists have a flair for lyricism that is totally independent of previous works and just express themselves without input, picking up skills through consistent effort and editing their own works until they come up with something that could be considered a well honed craft.

Collaboratively, you can brainstorm, refine, bounce ideas off each other which lead to epiphanies  or if you're a dedicated solo artist you can focus on specific ideas and themes without being led astray.

Ive been asked to collaborate which tells me there were specifics someone appreciated about my lyrics and felt compelled to contribute. Also, I could have learned from them, potentially creating more proffessional works and learn terms and certain aspects of lyric writing I am unaware of. Being that I politely declined I sometimes feel Ive done myself a disservice and missed an opportunity to have an impact or dare I venture towards the realm of profitting from my art.

I appreciate collaboration in that it can lead to maturity of craft and further opportunity to grow as an artist.
But it can also influence your art so much so that you veer from your original intent and adopt concepts and expressions that are not definitively original.

Any thoughts?

[Sccit]

If pro is the opposite of con, what's the opposite of progress?