Ed Sheeran has inspired Niall Horan to stay busy by setting him the challenge of writing a song a day.
The One Direction star admits he drafted up a strict routine to keep himself creative during the coronavirus lockdown but quickly realised his work was lacking in quality.
"I was one of those people that was like, 'Oh, I've got loads of time now. I'm going to write a song a day and it's going to be the best stuff I've ever written because I've got loads of time to think about it'," he told Zane Lowe on Apple Music, "and then I just found myself just sitting down to write and just coming up with a load of c**p."
Thankfully, a chat with Sheeran motivated him to keep going.
"I was asking him what he was doing and was he writing any bits, and he was like, 'Yeah, I've kind of like set myself a challenge. I'm going to try and write a song a day before lunch'. And he said, 'If I can come out with one big song out of this quarantine period, then I've won'."
Horan added, "I really agree with him. He's unbelievable that he can do that."
The singer added that his free schedule has helped him focus on being creative.
"You've got nothing else to do apart from go to the store or go for a run or workout for half an hour," he added.
"Apart from that, you're spending all of your time with your thoughts. When you lay in bed, when you're sitting on the sofa, there's going to be a lot more deep thinking and a lot more to write about."
